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'Úbeda' () is a town in the province of Jaén in Spain's autonomous community of Andalusia. It had about 36,000 inhabitants in 2003. It is best known for its association with the writer Antonio Muñoz Molina and the singer Joaquín Sabina. Despite opposition from the ICOMOS, UNESCO declared its Renaissance monuments a World Heritage Site in a cultural unity with Baeza in 2003.
The city is near the geographic centre of the province of Jaén, and it is the administrative seat of the surrounding Loma de Úbeda region. It is one of the region's most important settlements, boasting a hospital, university distance-learning facilities, local government facilities, social security offices, courts, etc. According to the Caixa yearbook, it is the economic hub of a catchment area with a population of 200,000 inhabitants. Twenty-nine percent of employment is in the service sector, with many people working in commerce and local government administration. People are also employed in agriculture (with olives the predominant crop), cattle ranching, industry and tourism.
The town lends its name to a common figure of speech in Spanish, ''andar por los cerros de Úbeda'' (literally 'to walk around the hills of Úbeda'), meaning 'to go off at a tangent'.

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External links

External links

★ Virtual Guide to Úbeda (municipal council website)

★ Renaissance Monumental Ensembles of Úbeda and Baeza (UN World Heritage website)

★ Histories of Úbeda in Spanish