El Algar
El Algar is a district of the Spanish municipality Cartagena. It is located in the east of Cartagena and has an area of 26.659 km. It shares borders with Lentiscar at its north, San Félix at its east, La Unión municipality at its south east, El Beal at its south-west and a coastal salty lagoon named Mar Menor at its north-west. In the year 2019, 7961 people were registered as inhabitants of the district. Geography. Physical geography. The territory of the district is quite flat and there is only a raised landform: a hillock named Cabezo  Álvarez. There are some flat spots like Fuente del Sapo and Saladar de Lo Poyo. No beds with constant water flow traverse the district, but there are some "ramblas" (dry water beds but during rainy periods) in El Algar. Human geography. In El Algar there are six localities. The main one has the name of El Algar and its population comes to 5,567. The second most populated area is Las Lomas, where 1,499 people live. There is also a village in the northeast of the territory which name is Los Urrutias and 848 people reside there. A residential population centre  also occupies El Algar and its name is Estrella de Mar, which population consists of 275. There are also two hamlets: Los Rizos and Los Ruices. The first one is in the north of the district and 4 people live there. The second one is in the south and has a population of 10. History. There is evidence of presence of people during the Ancient Rome era. This consists in archaeological sites related to former villae, mining and metallurgic spots and farming sites.The territory was probably uninhabited during the late Roman Empire era. During the Middle Ages, some path  crossings occupied El Algar, according to some historians. Herds must have passed by the territory when being led to a mountain range named Sierra Minera. As a consequence, a settlement of shepherds was gradually set up. There are document references that date back to the years 1555 and 1565. During the Trienio Liberal, El Algar was not part of Cartagena municipality as usually, but of a municipality that existed just for that period of time. This also covered the current districts of Cartagena El Beal and Rincón de San Ginés. When the period ended and an absolutist government system was  again established, the new municipality ceased existing and El Algar belonged again to Cartagena. A mining boom took place in the current municipality of La Unión during the second half of 19th century and the first years of 20th. Owing to the proximity of El Algar to La Unión, some landowners received money profits resulting from shares of mining entreprises from the adjoining municipality. The economic fortunate fact brought these affluent people from El Algar on getting large and with a remarkable architectonical features. The first half of the 20th century there was a stagnation in El Algar as a  consequence of the mining decay. Many inhabitants were prompted to migrate to Catalonia. In 1914, there was a trichinosis epidemic and it affected 275 people. Demographics. 16.89% of the inhabitants are foreigners – 4.515% come from other country of Europe, 10.925% are Africans, 1.03% are Americans and 0.34% are Asians. 18.78% inhabitants are younger than 15 years, which is approximately 4.28% above than nationwide; 16.117% locals age from 15 to 30, which is approximately 0,58% above the percentage for that age range in Spain and 20.09% inhabitants age more than 60 years, which is approximately 5.82% below than in a national  level.The number of inhabitants during the 21st century can be seen in the table below. Facilities. Healthcare. As it is part of Cartagena municipality, El Algar is included in the Health area II (Cartagena). A "consultorio" (primary care centre with fewer functions than the "centros de salud") is located in Los Urrutias and a "centro de salud" in the main little town. Education. Two early childhood and primary education centres (CEIP) are placed in the main little town, a secondary education centre (IES) is also located there, and an early childhood and primary education centre can be found in  Los Urrutias. Transportation. A highway which is under the autonomous comminity (Spanish region) competence and which name is RM-12 traverses the south of the district from the south-west to the south-east and the south of the main locality. A state competency road which is named N-332 is located in the eastern half of the territory and traverses is from the north-west to the south-west and is also present in the main town. A bus service that connects the town to the Cartagena, is performed and also another bus service with transportation to and from Murcia, but  it is quite scarce. Sports. Probably, the most remarkable element in regards to sports is the football team Club Deportivo El Algar (C.D. El Algar). Another sport team of the territory is a female one of volleyball named Surmenor. Every year, a popular race, which name is Subida a la Fuente del Sapo, occurs in one of the last days of August. An exceptional sport fact related to El Algar was Vuelta España 2018 (a Spanish national cycling competition) – part of sixth stage of the race occupied the main town of the district. The sports facilities that are located in  the district are a pavilion and a football pitch. Festivities. The festive events that occur in the district are listed below: