Halfway between Madrid and the Mediterranean coast, it enjoys connections by motorway, railway (including AVE), and air (Albacete Airport).

The second hypothesis states that its origin may be the Alaba of the Celtiberians, mentioned by Pliny the Elder and by Ptolemy, which could result in Alba civitas ("White city"), which later became Albacete.

Its name is derived from the Arabic البسيط Al-Basīṭ, "El Llano" ("the plain") referring to the planiform nature of the geography of the area.

During the Revolt of the Comuneros (1520–22), after initial protests, Albacete supported the new emperor Charles V, who in 1526 granted the feudal estate of the town to his wife, the Empress Isabella of Portugal.

Albacete is located in a strategic position between Madrid and the east coast of Spain and its agricultural wealth led to the growth of the borough during the next few centuries until Philip V granted permission for an annual fair (1710).

In the early 19th century, in the context of the discussion for the creation of a new province upon territory belonging to New Castile and Murcia, Albacete vied for the capital status of the intended demarcation against nearby Chinchilla.

A number of basic public works date back to that time: the water supply and sewer system (1905), the Abelardo Sanchez Park (1910–23), Tesifonte Gallego Street and the industrial area of the town.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936–39), after a brief lapse in the power of the troops who had rebelled against the Republican government, the town fell back into the hands of Madrid.

It was also the headquarters of the International Brigades (supporters of the Republican cause from other countries who fought in the Spanish Civil war)[25] and a monument has been built recently to commemorate the sixty years' anniversary of those events.

The first volume of Peter Weiss' novel The Aesthetics of Resistance is located in Albacete's Civil War days hospital "Cueva La Potita".

In the time of the transition to democracy, the two most significant events were the establishment in Albacete in 1982 of the High Court of Justice of Castilla–La Mancha,[26] according to article 23 of the Statute of Autonomy of the Community.

According to the Gazetteer of 2013, the municipality in addition to the capital city-the city of Albacete it includes a smaller local organization (Aguas Nuevas) and sixteen rural areas (The Salobral, Santa Ana, Bacariza, Argamasón, Tinajeros, Campillo of Doblas, The Anguijes, Abuzaderas, Cerrolobo, Casa de las Monjas, House Captain, Great House, Los Llanos, The Pulgosa, The Torrecica and Villar de Pozo Rubio).

The city currently bases its economy on the trade and services sector, being head of an extensive sales area of over 556,723 people from 154 municipalities scattered throughout the provinces of Albacete, Cuenca, Ciudad Real, Jaén, Alicante, Valencia and Murcia.

Albacete has a long history as a city of business from the first half of the fourteenth century, partly through its agricultural and farming fair which became a meeting point for people of the southeast Spanish.

The TLP (Tactical Leadership Programme officially) is an international center for advanced training for pilots and crews in order to improve the operability and effectiveness of Allied Air Forces.

But there were already some important buildings of its kind in the city among which is the Posada del Rosario (16th century), typical Manchego mansion where Gothic, Mudejar and Renaissance styles meet, and today has become office Tourism and university library, Perona House (s. XVII) today headquarters of the Delegation of Regional Government of Castilla–La Mancha, the fairgrounds, opened in 1783, and becomes the capital of La Mancha the only city in Spain with an exhibition dedicated to this purpose, and has undergone several expansions.

The result of the strength of the bourgeoisie albacetense early twentieth century, Modernist architectural movement will be making their mark in the center of the capital, erecting buildings like the Casa del Hortelano, built in 1912 and now houses the Museum of Cutlery.

21st century buildings such as El Corte Ingles, the station Albacete-Los Llanos, the Congress Palace, the Hotel Beatriz, the European Centre for Business Innovation Albacete, Hotel Santa Isabel, the House of Culture José Saramago, Airport Terminal Albacete, the Informatics Research Institute, the Center for Entrepreneurship, the Multipurpose Building of the University of Castilla–La Mancha or the Commissioner of the National Police.

Broad Street ends at the Plaza de Gabriel Lodares, hangout emblematic as the Abelardo Sanchez Park, Palace Casa Marlo, Sanatorium Arturo Ortiz Cortes, MCC Building, Plaza de San José de Calasanz or major streets the city and the Paseo Simon Abril, Octavio Cuartero Street or Avenue of Spain, along which highlights as the Bachelor Institute Sabuco, the Civil Government (headquarters of the central government representation in Albacete), the hotel is located Los Llanos park fountain in the Plaza Benjamín Palencia, El Corte Ingles in Spain Avenue, the Estadio Carlos Belmonte or Campus Zone.

The streets Martinez Villena, San Julian and fair lead from the Plaza del Altozano west of the city, passing by places like the Plaza de la Catedral, in which are located the Cathedral of Albacete, the Town Hall, the Casa del Hortelano, home of the Museum of Cutlery in Albacete, or the Park of San Juan.

Since then, and for ten days, they are held numerous recreational, cultural and sports activities throughout the city, but especially concentrated around Paseo de la Feria, the Fairground and surroundings (so-called string), where attractions of all types and booths of all associations are based.

That night is held torchlight parade from City Hall to the Ejidos Fair, where catches fire in the Bonfire of San Juan, where old belongings and burn stuff.

Among other issues, the livestock sector has enough presence in the province, where farms are important such as Samuel Flores, Las Ramblas, El Pizarral, Los Chospes, Sonia Gonzalez or Ruiz Yagüe.

The city also hosts the celebration every year of heifers and traditional Corrida de Asprona, to benefit the Association for the Care of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities and their Families in the Province of Albacete, in which top bullfighters participate.

Albacete craftsmanship is closely linked to the knife since the fifteenth century, and features a wide variety of ways that relate to their specific use.

It stresses the dish of Gazpachos Mancha with game meat, the breadcrumbs ruleras, pastor porridge (with fresh bacon and pebbles or millet flour), the manchego ratatouille or wet during the summer time, combining tomato and pepper, beans with partridge or popular atascaburras whose base is the egg, oil and cod, and which dates back to lous cold winters La Mancha Albacete, as well as the garlic mataero.

Later the Official Journal of Castilla–La Mancha published on 13 January 1987 Decree 137/86 of 30 December, from the Presidency and Government of the Community Board,[35] which approved the amendment of the Heraldic Shield of the City of Albacete, without making corrections to the description of the ordering of the towers.

According to the resolution adopted by the City Council plenary in a session dated 30 April 1992, the City Council acknowledged the Order of the Ministry of Public Administration, dated 9 March of that year, through which the municipality of Albacete was granted a flag, with the following description: "crimson red canvas, dimensions 90 cm × 155 cm (35 in × 61 in) with the Albacete Shield encamped in the center, according to the amendment by Decree 137/86 of 30 December.

Its strategic location midway between the center of the peninsula, near Levante and Andalusia, makes the city is erected as one of the most important communications hubs southeast Spanish, with motorways to Madrid, Valencia, Alicante, Toledo, Ciudad Real and Murcia (in a few years also Jaén, and Teruel via Cuenca).

On the Circuito de Albacete have passed and legends from the world of motor as Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso, Valentino Rossi, Jorge Lorenzo, Marc Marquez or Dani Pedrosa.