Located near the "triple border" between Ávila, Toledo and Madrid, a small municipality of 800 inhabitants has the peculiar condition of being the furthest point from the sea in the entire peninsular territory. A recognition that does not coincide with that of the geographic centre of the Iberian Peninsula, located in the municipalities of Getafe or Pinto, according to the different existing interpretations and measurements in this regard.
In the case of the furthest point from the sea in all of Spain, the experts agree on placing it in the municipality of Nombela. It is located near the confluence of three autonomous communities, specifically the provinces of Madrid, Ávila and Toledo. It also happens that the cities of Ávila, Toledo and Madrid are, in turn, the three provincial capitals farthest from the sea in all of Spain. In the case of the city of Madrid, for example, the closest beach, located in Valencia, is 372 kilometres away. This is Playa Las Arenas-Malvarrosa.
In the case of the municipality of Nombela, which is the furthest point in Spain from the sea, it should be noted that it is an enclave whose foundation could be Iberian or even Hebrew. Historically it is a municipality that has based its economy on agriculture. As far as its population is concerned, until the 1960s it maintained a census of around 2,000 inhabitants. However, since then it has steadily lost population, reaching, according to 2021 data, 877 residents.
Why does it not coincide with the geographical point of the peninsula?
As the Iberian Peninsula is an irregular territory, the furthest point from the sea does not have to coincide with the geographical centre of the peninsula. This other recognition is, according to most experts, in the Madrid municipality of Getafe, specifically in the Cerro de Los Ángeles. However, based on historical documentation, there are also those who maintain that the geographical centre of peninsular Spain is in the municipality of Pinto, whose Latin name "Punctum" refers precisely to this condition. In recent decades, some measurements and studies have given way to alternative theories that would place the geographical centre of the peninsula in the Toledo municipality of Méntrida.