In red, location of the natural region of La Mancha. In dark gray, present-day Castilla–La Mancha autonomous community territories not included in historical La Mancha.
The name La Mancha is probably derived from the Arabic word المنشأ al-mansha, meaning "land without water". The name of the city of Almansa in Albacete shares that origin.[2] The name describes the region's dryland farming soils.
Another etymology ascribes the origin of La Mancha to المانيا al-manya, which is an Arabic expression for "elevated plain" or "high plateau".[3]
The word mancha in Spanish literally means spot, stain, or patch. Unless the scarce or "patchy" vegetation cover is considered, no apparent link exists between the Spanish false cognatemancha and the name of the region.
Besides phonetic similarity, there is no relationship between the toponymLa Mancha and the French thalassonymLa Manche, which refers to the English Channel and denotes the sleeve-shaped form of that stretch of sea.[citation needed] However,
Canal de la Mancha is the Spanish name for the English Channel, and manga is the Spanish word for sleeve.
Geography
Pastures and sheep in La Mancha
The largest plain in Spain, La Mancha is made up of a plateau averaging 500 to 600 metres in altitude (although it reaches 900 metres in Campo de Montiel and other parts), centering on the province of Ciudad Real. The region is watered by the Guadiana, Jabalón, Záncara, Cigüela, and Júcar rivers.
Landscape of the fields in La Mancha
Climate
The climate is cold semi-arid (KöppenBSk), with strong fluctuations. Farming (wheat, barley, oats, sugar beets, wine grapes, olives) and cattle raising are the primary economic activities, but they are severely restricted by the harsh environmental conditions.
Don Quixote statue at La Mancha Inn, SpainAlcalá del Júcar, La Mancha
Miguel de Cervantes described La Mancha and its windmills in his two-part 1605/1615 novel Don Quixote de La Mancha. Cervantes was making fun of the region, using a pun; a "mancha" was also a stain, as on one's honor, and thus an inappropriately named homeland for a dignified knight-errant.[4] Translator John Ormsby believed that Cervantes chose it because it was the most ordinary, prosaic, anti-romantic, and therefore unlikely place from which a chivalrous, romantic hero could originate, making Quixote seem even more absurd. However, ironically, due to the fame of Cervantes' character, the name of La Mancha came to be associated worldwide with romantic chivalry.
Several film versions of Don Quixote have been filmed largely in La Mancha. However, some, including the 1957 Russian film version, and the 1972 English-language version of Man of La Mancha (based on the 1965 Broadway musical), were not. The 1957 film was shot in Crimea, while Man of La Mancha was filmed in Italy. G. W. Pabst's 1933 version of Cervantes's novel was shot in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. The 2000 made-for-TV Don Quixote, starring John Lithgow as Don Quixote and Bob Hoskins as Sancho Panza, was shot on several locations in Spain, but not in La Mancha.
See also
Manchuela ("lesser La Mancha"), a comarca in La Mancha.
La Mancha (DO), a Spanish Denominación de Origen (DO) for wines.