Alcalá de Henares is situated in central Spain, about 35 km northeast of the city of Madrid. The city centre is still essentially medieval in its architecture and the centre was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1998. The city is often called simply "Alcalá", but the "de Henares" is often added to identify it from a dozen other cities sharing the name Alcalá, meaning citadel.
The city’s university was founded in 1499 and some parts of it are still housed in the original buildings. It is famous for the awarding each year of the Cervantes Prize, an award similar to the Booker Prize. It is given for outstanding literary achievements in the Spanish language. The award is named after Spain’s most famous author, Miguel de Cervantes, who was born in Alcalá de Henares. The architecture of the university has been the inspiration for universities in several other cities throughout the world, including two in the USA - San Diego and Lubbock, Texas.
The house where Cervantes was born is now a museum dedicated to the writer and contains furniture and implements giving an insight into life in 17th century Alcalá de Henares. It also houses a collection of material related to his work, such as old editions of 'Don Quixote' and several translations.
Alcalá de Henares is well-known as a nesting place for white storks. The large nests can be seen at the top of many of the churches and old buildings in the city and are regarded as a tourist attraction.
In common with most regions, Alcalá de Henares has its local speciality dishes and other foods that are interesting to try. Some of the city’s restaurants serve dishes which seem to be straight from the pages of Don Quixote such as garlic soup, migas (bread crumbs) with sausages and eggs, and a wide range of other dishes cooked with fresh vegetables from the Henares area.
Other specialities include doughnuts and sugar coated almonds. The nuns at the Clarisas de Saint Diego convent make sugar coated almonds that are on sale at a window at the convent’s entrance.
