Alzira, Valencia
Alzira () is a city and municipality of 44,938 inhabitants (62,094 floating population) in Valencia, eastern Spain. It is the capital of the "comarca" of Ribera Alta in the province of Valencia. The city is the heart of the second largest urban agglomeration in the province, with a population of over 100,000. Geographic situation. Alzira is located in the province of Valencia, on the left bank of the Júcar river, and on the Valencia–Alicante railway. Alzira's climate is typically Mediterranean: warm with no extremes of temperature either in summer or winter. Rainfall is scarce and irregular. Torrential  rains usually follow periods of relative drought. The town is situated on the shores of the Júcar river and contains the Murta and Casella valleys. Alzira's borough extends over 111 square kilometres. History. Alzira was founded by the Muslim Moors under the name Jazirat Shukr () which later became known as Júcar Island. It was a prosperous trading station during the reign of the Muslim Moors which lasted over five hundred years. During that time the city had a local administrative government and was considered as a cultural hub for writers, philosophers, and law experts. The city was conquered by  James I of Aragon on 30 December 1242. Alzira, located right on the bank of the Júcar, has suffered devastating floods throughout its history - in particular in 1472, 1590, 1864, 1916, 1982 and 1987. Alzira has historically been a walled town, surrounded by palm, orange and mulberry groves, and by low-lying rice-swamps, which rendered its neighborhood somewhat unhealthy. It is sometimes identified with the Roman "Saetabicula" or with the pre-Roman "Sucro". According to one source, the mutiny at Sucro of 206 BC, squelched by Scipio Africanus, was at or near present-day Alzira, a few kilometers east  of the mouth of the Sucro/Jucar River. Economy. Agriculture was the prime economic driving force in Alzira up to the mid-20th century. The most important produce are oranges and they are distributed by important local co-operatives. During the 20th century, Alzira changed from an agricultural based economy to a diversified industry-orientated city with an important commercial infrastructure and associated services. Many outstanding companies have their head-office in the city: building and publishing companies, diverse manufacturers, textile and ice cream factories, etc. Alzira has become a very important commercial city due to its influence area, which is  estimated about 300,000 inhabitants. Healthcare. Alzira has a 250-bed Community Hospital, the Hospital de la Ribera, which was built in 1999 by UTE-Ribera, under a Private Finance Initiative scheme. This capitation based system with integration between primary and secondary care providers and a unified IT system across all services has become known as the Alzira model and received a great deal of attention. The quality of services appears to be considerably higher than other health care systems.