Outlying districts of Totana: La Ñorica

There is no village hub in this agricultural area of Totana

The outlying district of La Ñorica lies to the east of the town of Totana, and consists largely of agricultural land on the flat plain of the Guadalentín valley. Although some light industry has developed in recent years, the economy and landscape are still dominated by farming, and even the name of the village and surrounding area, which is presumed to derive from the existence in the past of a water wheel, reflects this bucolic and rural nature.

Little is known about the history of the area of La Ñorica, but during a large part of the Middle Ages the fertile soil appears not to have interested the population of the fortified hilltop town of Aledo, which during the occupation by the Moors (8th to 13th century) and the subsequent 200 years was the most important settlement in this part of Murcia. During these years the land here was used largely as pasture, and although crop farming was present it was not as significant as it would later become.

This changed, though, after 1492, when the Moors were expelled from the neighbouring kingdom of Granada and the south-east of Spain was suddenly a more secure and stable place to live, relieved of the status of “frontier country”. But even now, while agriculture intensified in La Ñorica, far faster progress was made in neighbouring districts such as El Raiguero and Lebor, where dams and water deposits were built in the 17th century.

Even in the 20th century La Ñorica has remained largely untouched by the changes which have occurred in the rest of Totana, and there is no recognized nucleus of population in the area. Instead, homes are mainly dotted around the countryside, in among crop fields, vineyards and the occasional warehouse or workshop.

In this context it is not surprising that there is no church, no patron saint and no established annual local fiesta, although there is a tradition for social gathering to be held during one weekend in August.

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