Tobarra is a municipality in the province of Albacete in Spain, with a population of c. 8,000 as of 2009. The area is famous for its "Moniquí" variety of apricots, its drum processions (tamboradas) and its Holy Week observances, declared by the government to be of National Tourist Interest. It has a "Dolorosa" sculpture by Francisco Salzillo and an articulated statue of Jesus that gives the blessing on Good Friday on a local hilltop designated Mount Calvary, before a congregation normally numbering some 30,000. After the trumpet sounds, the drums are silenced and the "Mektub" theme is sounded, while the Christ statue makes a gesture of blessing towards the four cardinal points. Other important events of the Tobarran Easter observances are the Descent from Paso Gordo from the Hermitage of the Incarnation on the afternoon of Good Thursday, and the "Cierre del Tambor" (closing drum ceremony) at midnight on Easter Sunday. History The settlement of Tobarra is ancient: prehistoric tools and spears have been found at its boundaries, and the Santa Ana valley contains Iberian graves. The origin of the name Tobarra is Arabic from the word "Tabarrah". Tobarra was inhabited before the Roman conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, as shown by the fact that the Via Romana which connected Complutum (Alcalá de Henares) with Carthago Nova (Cartagena) was diverted several kilometres to pass through Tobarra, and afterward continued on its way to Illunum (Minateda). During the Visigoth era a hermitage was carved out of the rock, a short distance from the current city centre, beside a quarry that was used from Roman times until well into the 17th century. In the Muslim era a castle and a mosque (now gone) were built, as well as an extensive irrigation network. Some of the original wells from the Andalusian era still continue to supply water to an area that was, for many years, the most important orchard of Albacete. In 1243 the area of Alcaraz was reconquered by "Infante Alfonso" (the future Alfonso X of Castile), although it soon regained its independence. Ferdinand IV of Castile granted the city a franchise that would be confirmed by the successive kings and nobles of Tobarra until the era of the Catholic Monarchs. In 1324 an expedition of Nasri Moors devastated Tobarra and took part of its enslaved population to Granada, which at that time had already fallen under the influence of the powerful