The Palmer­al of Elche, a land­scape of groves of date palms, was for­mal­ly laid out, with elab­o­rate irri­ga­tion sys­tems, at the time the Mus­lim city of Elche was erect­ed, towards the end of the tenth cen­tu­ry A.C., when much of the Iber­ian penin­su­la was Arab. The Palmer­al is an oasis, a sys­tem for agrar­i­an pro­duc­tion in arid areas. It is also a unique exam­ple of Arab agri­cul­tur­al prac­tices on the Euro­pean con­ti­nent. Cul­ti­va­tion of date palms in Elche is known at least since the Iber­ian times, dat­ing around the fifth cen­tu­ry B.C.