After the
expulsion of the Moriscos in the 17th century, large parts of Yecla, Jumilla as well as
Abanilla have remained depopulated. These areas were used as pasture land from 1878 to 1887 and later for agriculture (mostly
vineyards). Since then these areas have been the focus of
emigration of Valencian-speaking agricultural workers from the neighbouring Vinalopó valley in the
Alicante province, especially from the area around the town of
Pinoso, carrying their language with them. The greater bulk of Valencian speakers made it into the area in relatively recent times, by the 19th and 20th centuries, which explains why this piece of land was never a part of the historic
Kingdom of Valencia, and therefore it lies out of the boundaries of the modern day
Valencian Community. Those people settled in the plains forming the source for the
Abanilla and
Raja, in some cases—Carrascalejo, los Pinillos—also further north almost up to Yecla, and always within reach of the mountains of Carche, after which the
comarca is called. They founded about twenty small towns and places which never managed to reach administrative independency from either the municipalities of Yecla and Jumilla (the hamlets of
La Arbequilla,
La Raja,
La Torre del Rico,
Cañada del Trigo and
La Zarza or from Abanilla (the hamlets of
El Collado de los Gabrieles,
Cañada de la Leña and
Umbría de la Zarza). ==Demography==