ELCHE, town in eastern Spain, province of Alicante, on the river Vinalapo and the Murcia—Alicante railway. Pop. (193o) 38,013. Elche contains no building of high architectural merit, except, perhaps, the collegiate church of Santa Maria, with its lofty blue-tiled dome and fine portico. Its narrow streets and flat-roofed, whitewashed houses, however, and, above all, the innumerable date-palms, give the city, standing on a low hill in the midst of a sandy plain, a strikingly oriental aspect. Date cultivation in the country is almost limited to this locality, where it is the chief occupation, and though the dates are inferior to those of the Barbary States, large quantities are exported. The blanched fronds are also sold for Palm Sunday processions, and when blessed by the priest are regarded throughout Spain as cer tain defences against lightning. Other products are pomegranates, figs, olives, almonds and cereals, and Elche manufactures oil, soap flour, esparto fabrics and many leather and rope-soled shoes for export. The harbour is Santa Pola (pop. 4,200), 6 m. E.S.E., where the Vinalapo enters the Mediterranean.
Elche, probably the Iberian Helike and the Roman Ilici or Illici, was held from the 8th to the 13th century by the Moors, who gave it the irrigation system on which its wealth depends. In 1332 it was finally captured by the Spaniards.