ALICANTE  , the

capital of the Spanish province described above, and one of the principal seaports of the-country . Pop . (1900) 50,142 . It is situated in 38° 21' N. and o° 26' W., on the Bay of Alicante, an inlet of the Mediterranean Sea . It is the termini of railways from Madrid and Murcia . From its harbour, the town presents a striking picture . Along the shore extends the Pasco de los Martires, a double avenue of palms; behind this, the white flat-roofed houses rise in the form of a crescent towards the low hills which surround the city, and terminate, on the right, in a bare rock, 400 ft. high, surmounted by an ancient citadel . Its dry and equable climate renders Alicante a popular health-resort . The city is an episcopal see, and contains a modern cathedral . The bay affords good anchorage, but only small vessels can come up to the two moles . The harbour is fortified, and there is a small lighthouse on the eastern mole; important engineering works, subsidized by the state, were undertaken in 1902 to provide better accomodation . In the same year 1737 vessels of 939,789 tons entered the port .

The

trade of Alicante consists chiefly in the manufacture of cotton, linen and woollen goods, cigars and confectionery; the importation of coal, iron, machinery, manures, timber, oak staves and fish; and the exportation of lead, fruit, farm produce and red wines, which are sent to France for blending with better vintages . Fine marble is procured in the island of Plana near the coast . Alicante was the Roman Lucentum; but, despite its antiquity, it has few Roman or Moorish remains . In 718, it was occupied by the Moors, who were only expelled in 1304, and made an unsuccessful attempt to recapture the city in 1331 . Alicante was besieged by the French in 1709, and by the Federalists of Cartagena in 1873 . For an account of the events which led up to these two sieges, see SPAIN . For further details of the local history, see J . Pastor de la Roca, Historia general de la ciudad y castillo de Alicante, &c . (Alicante, 1854); and the Ensayo biogrdfico bibliogrdfico de escritores de Alicante y de su provincia, by M . R . Garcia and A . Montero y Perez (Alicante, 1890) .