Banyeres de Mariola is a settlement in the north of the province of Alicante (Spain), 860 metres above sea level, with a population of 7,500. The main employer is the local textile industry. The town has a Moorish castle that dates from 1214, and is surrounded by mountains, almond and olive trees. On the 23rd and 24th April each year the town celebrates the Moros y Cristianos (Moors and Christians) festival, commemorating the 13th century defeat by the Christians of the occupying Moorish rulers. It is a festival of pageantry, costume, and pyrotechnics. The nearby larger town of Alcoi/Alcoy has a 4-day festival on a much grander scale over four days from the 22nd to 24th April. Alicante (Castillian Spanish) or Alacant (Valencian Catalan) is the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of the Alacantí, in the southern part of the Land of Valencia, Spain, a historic Mediterranean port. ... metre or meter, see meter (disambiguation) The metre (in the U.S., chiefly meter) is a measure of length, approximately equal to 3. ... Copyrighted Image Photo courtesy of Wayne B. Chandler Moorish Ambassador to Queen Elizabeth I The Moors were the medieval Muslim inhabitants of al-Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula including the present day Spain and Portugal) and the Maghreb and western Africa, whose culture is often called Moorish. ... The main gatehouse of Harlech Castle, Wales. ... Events Simon Apulia becomes Bishop of Exeter. ...