Caspe is a municipality in the province of Zaragoza, part of the autonomous community of Aragon (Spain), seat of the comarca of Bajo Aragón-Caspe. As of 2018 it had a population of 9,525 inhabitants (INE 2018) and its municipality, of 503.33 km2, is the fourth largest in Aragon.
Caspe obtained the title of city in the 19th century, as a result of the damage suffered in the Carlist Wars, by concession of Queen Isabella II.
Name
There is a popular belief that Caspe is named for ancient inhabitants of the city reportedly from the Caspian Sea. However this widespread etymology lacks philological rigor. The place name Casp was documented in Andalusi sources as "Qsp", "Qasp" or "Qasb", and has been related to the Arabic word "Casba". It is also possible that the name of the city derives from the Indo-European root Cass ("oak") and the suffix pe ("place of" or "below").
Geography
Caspe is located at the 41.2 parallel of north latitude and on the Greenwich meridian. It is 104 km southeast of Zaragoza on the banks of the Guadalope river —which no longer carries water in this section, having been diverted upstream when building the Mequinenza reservoir, also called the Sea of Aragon —and a few kilometers from the Ebro. It is 152 meters above sea level in one of the most arid areas of Aragon, with an average temperature of 15 °C and 325 mm of annual precipitation.
It is located at the crossroads of two axes: the Ebro — in an east–west direction, partly used by the railway — and, perpendicular to it, the one that, starting from Andorra, passes through Alcañiz and continues to Barbastro and Monzón.
Flora and fauna
Due to its combination of steppe, river, forest, and Mediterranean forest, Caspe is home to a great diversity of fauna and flora.
It has a diverse year-round population of birds of prey, such as golden eagles, Eurasian griffon vultures, peregrine falcons, common buzzards, goshawks and sparrowhawks. European merlins, kites and hen harriers in winter, as well as black kites, Egyptian vultures, European short-toed, alcotans, ash harriers and lesser kestrels in summer. Nocturnal birds of prey include the long-eared owl, the little owl, Scops owl and the barn owl. Although not as extensive as in its surroundings, Caspe has a population of steppe birds that includes the great bustard and common curlew, both species of sandgrouse; the black-bellied sandgrouse and the pin-tailed sandgrouse, as well as the great spotted cuckoo. The steppe landscape comprises the juniper, black juniper, rosemary, thyme, and reeds.
Its gallery forests create a complex habitat that joins the mountain landscapes and rainfed fields. Waterfowl can be found, such as the mallard duck, gray heron, imperial heron, little bittern, little egret, and kingfisher. These forests are mainly made up of black poplars, reeds, and reed beds. Some forest species inhabit the bush landscape, such as the sparrowhawk above and goshawk, in addition to others, such as the standard turtle dove and bee-eater in summer, the crossbill, red partridge and the increasingly rare common quail. The Mediterranean and mountain forests are mainly made up of Aleppo pine, black juniper and white sable, corolla, ginesta, romerales, and thyme.
As for mammals, the red deer stands out since it is the only deer that never became extinct in Aragon; also, the wild boar, common badger, common fox, marten, genet, otter, weasel, roe deer, ordinary rabbit, Iberian hare and rodents such as voles or field mice, among others. Caspe's diversity of habitats makes possible the presence of a considerable variety of amphibians and reptiles. In the ponds and puddles of the hills, there are common toads, spur toads, running toads, spotted toads, common frogs, and viper snakes. In addition, the ocellated lizard, bastard snake, horseshoe snake, and ladder snake are found throughout the territory, as well as the leper turtle in the river. In some forest areas, the rare snout viper lives.
Caspe also has a considerable population of white storks in the convent of Santo Domingo and the Colegiata de Santa María la Mayor (Caspe), with a total of 17 couples (2018).
Prehistory and archeology
The municipality of Caspe seems to have been one of the last to be populated within Lower Aragon, either due to environmental problems with the prehistoric habitat or because erosion has destroyed the deposits.