page_title: Murcia
section_title: Economy
hierarchical_section_title: Murcia / Economy
caption_attribution_description: English: Casa Cerdá building in Santo Domingo square, Murcia (Spain) Español: Casa Cerdá en la Plaza Santo Domingo de Murcia (España)
context_page_description: Murcia is a city in south-eastern Spain, the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of the Region of Murcia, and the seventh largest city in the country, with a population of 447,182 inhabitants in 2018. The population of the metropolitan area was 689,591 in 2010.
  It is located on the Segura River, in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula; it has a climate with hot summers, mild winters, and relatively low precipitation.
  Murcia was founded by the emir of Cordoba Abd ar-Rahman II in 825 with the name Mursiyah. It is now mainly a services city and a university town. Highlights for visitors include the Cathedral of Murcia and a number of baroque buildings, renowned local cuisine, Holy Week procession works of art by the famous Murcian sculptor Francisco Salzillo, and the Fiestas de Primavera.
  The city, as the capital of the comarca Huerta de Murcia is called Europe's orchard due to its long agricultural tradition and its fruit, vegetable, and flower production and exports.
  Murcia is located near the center of a low-lying fertile plain known as the huerta of Murcia. The Segura River and its right-hand tributary, the Guadalentín, run through the area.
context_section_description: Economically, Murcia predominantly acts as a centre for agriculture and tourism. It is common to find Murcia's tomatoes and lettuce, and especially lemons and oranges, in European supermarkets. Migrant workers are used in this lettuce industry. Murcia is a producer of wines, with about 40,000 hectares (100,000 acres) devoted to grape vineyards. Most of the vineyards are located in Ricote and Jumilla. Jumilla is a plateau where the vineyards are surrounded by mountains.
  Murcia has some industry, with foreign companies choosing it as a location for factories, such as Henry Milward & Sons (which manufactures surgical and knitting needles) and American firms like General Electric and Paramount Park Studios.
  During the 2000s, the economy of the region turned towards "residential tourism" in which people from northern European countries have a second home in the area. Europeans and Americans are able to learn Spanish in the academies in the town center.
  The economy of Murcia is supported by fairs and congresses, museums, theatres, cinema, music, aquariums, restaurants, hotels, shopping centres, campings, sports, foreign students, and tourism. 
  Golf, and in particular, golf tourism has become very important to the economy and draws in visitors from across the world but especially the UK, Scandinavia and Germany as well as the USA. Unlike in other parts of Europe, especially Northern Europe, the weather in high season can almost be guaranteed to be dry and sunny. This has led to specialist golf holidays being created bringing in visitors from April to June and September to November especially. Unlike in other parts of the country golf courses are quieter in July and August due to the extreme heat.
caption: Casa Cerdá in Santo Domingo square
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