Economy
Murcia serves as a major producer of agricultural products; it is common to find Murcia's tomatoes and lettuce, and especially lemons and oranges, in European supermarkets. Murcia is a producer of wines, with about 100,000 acres (40,469 ha) 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 is a centre for industry, with many British and American companies choosing it as a location for satellite factories, such as Henry Milward & Sons (which manufactures surgical and knitting needles), American firms like General Electric and Paramount Park Studios.
Recently, the economy of the region is turning 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, bullfighting, restaurants, hotels, camping, sports, foreign students, and tourism.
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Famous quotes containing the word economy:
“Wise men read very sharply all your private history in your look and gait and behavior. The whole economy of nature is bent on expression. The tell-tale body is all tongues. Men are like Geneva watches with crystal faces which expose the whole movement.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Cities need old buildings so badly it is probably impossible for vigorous streets and districts to grow without them.... for really new ideas of any kind—no matter how ultimately profitable or otherwise successful some of them might prove to be—there is no leeway for such chancy trial, error and experimentation in the high-overhead economy of new construction. Old ideas can sometimes use new buildings. New ideas must use old buildings.”
—Jane Jacobs (b. 1916)