The Palmeral of Elche is the artificial oasis that surrounds the historic town of Elche of Andalusian origin located in the south of the province of Alicante, on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is made up of 67 orchards, containing some 45,000 date palms, covering 144 ha. The landscape of the Palmeral of Elche is a remarkable example of the introduction of a form of agriculture and the acclimatization of an economically profitable species in a new region. The palm grove is a typical component of the North African landscape which was introduced to Europe during the Islamic occupation of a large part of the Iberian Peninsula and which has retained its original form to the present day in Elche.
The foundation of the current city of Elche (in the 10^th and 11^th centuries) reflected a conception simultaneously associating the city and its production space. The development of the new community depended on the improvement of the surrounding territory through artificial irrigation. The enhancement of the territory of the new Andalusian medina was possible thanks to the establishment of an agricultural system developed in the belt of sterile lands unified by Islam, between the West Saharan and East India-Iran, the artificial oasis of the plain. The design of the medieval city of Elche developed in the manner of the many medinas and fortified cities of the caravan routes of the Islamic orb, a walled enclosure surrounded by palm orchards watered by canals.