Qibla · Castille-La Mancha
Qibla direction in Albacete
To face the Kaaba in Albacete, turn to 103.9° measured clockwise from true north, which is east (13.9° south of east). The Sacred Mosque in Mecca lies 4,407 km away along the shortest path over the globe, and this is the direction the mihrabs of the mosques in Albacete should follow.
Line up the top of your phone or compass with the green needle: it marks 103.9°, the Qibla of Albacete. Phone compasses usually display true north, so a reading of 104° is all you need; a needle compass reads magnetic north and needs the local declination added or subtracted first.
Find the Qibla with your phone
How to face the Qibla in Albacete
Stand where you will pray and find north first. Then turn towards east and move a further 13.9° towards south: the result is the bearing of 103.9°. A small error of a few degrees is forgiven by most scholars, but aiming simply at east would leave you about 14° off.
Facing the Qibla is a condition of the prayer. Whoever prays inside the Sacred Mosque faces the Kaaba itself; whoever is far away, as in Albacete, faces its direction and makes a sincere effort to be accurate. A nearby mosque is a handy reference, because its prayer rows were aligned when it was built. Once you know the direction at home, a discreet mark on the wall saves you from checking again.
Why a flat map shows a different direction
A straight line drawn on a flat (Mercator) map from Albacete to Mecca points to 116.2° (south-east), 12.2° away from the correct 103.9°. That map line is a rhumb line: it keeps the same compass heading all the way, but it is 26 km longer than the true shortest route. The Qibla follows the great circle, the shortest path on the curved Earth, which is why the bearing differs.
How is the figure of 103.9° obtained? From the coordinates of Albacete (38.9942° N, 1.8564° W) and of the Kaaba (21.4225° N, 39.8262° E), spherical trigonometry gives the starting bearing of the great circle joining them. Mosque architects and astronomical Qibla tables rely on exactly the same calculation.
Distance from Albacete to Mecca and Medina
Mecca is 4,407 km from Albacete as the crow flies, and Medina, the city of the Prophet ﷺ, is 4,197 km away. A direct flight would take roughly 5 h 41 min, although most pilgrims from Albacete connect through Jeddah or Medina airport.
Clocks in Albacete run 2 hours behind Mecca in winter and 1 hour behind Mecca in summer, because of daylight saving time. Prayer times, however, depend on the sun at your own location, so always use the prayer times of Albacete rather than those of Mecca.
Finding the Qibla with the sun in Albacete
On 229 days of 2027, the sun passes exactly through the Qibla direction of Albacete while it is well above the horizon. At that moment, facing the sun means facing Mecca. The effect is most frequent in March (31 days); for example, on 1 March 2027 it happens at 08:10 local time.
On 115 days the sun stands exactly opposite the Qibla: then the shadow of any vertical object, a pole, a door frame or a plumb line, points straight towards Mecca. This is most frequent in May (31 days), for instance on 1 May 2027 at 20:18.
| Date | Sun in the Qibla direction (face the sun) | Sun opposite (shadows point to the Qibla) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 January 2027 | — | — |
| 15 January 2027 | — | — |
| 1 February 2027 | — | — |
| 15 February 2027 | — | — |
| 1 March 2027 | 08:10 | — |
| 15 March 2027 | 08:32 | — |
| 1 April 2027 | 09:58 | — |
| 15 April 2027 | 10:19 | — |
| 1 May 2027 | 10:43 | 20:18 |
| 15 May 2027 | 11:02 | 19:57 |
| 1 June 2027 | 11:22 | 19:40 |
| 15 June 2027 | 11:33 | 19:35 |
| 1 July 2027 | 11:35 | 19:40 |
| 15 July 2027 | 11:27 | 19:52 |
| 1 August 2027 | 11:08 | 20:13 |
| 15 August 2027 | 10:45 | 20:32 |
| 1 September 2027 | 10:12 | — |
| 15 September 2027 | 09:43 | — |
| 1 October 2027 | 09:09 | — |
| 15 October 2027 | — | — |
| 1 November 2027 | — | — |
| 15 November 2027 | — | — |
| 1 December 2027 | — | — |
| 15 December 2027 | — | — |
Twice a year the sun passes directly over the Kaaba, on 28 May 2027 and 16 July 2027. Both moments are in daylight in Albacete: at 11:18 and 11:27 local time, face the sun and you face the Qibla exactly, anywhere in the city.
Albacete compared with other cities
The Qibla here is practically the same as in Madrid (104.0°), and Mecca is 191 km closer. The nearest city with its own Qibla page, Orihuela (129 km), prays towards 103.6°, a difference of 0.3°.
Across the 49 cities in Spain on this site, the Qibla ranges from 84.6° in Santa Cruz de Tenerife to 112.0° in Girona, a spread of 27.4°. That is too large to use one national direction, so each city has its own bearing.
See all cities on the Qibla page for Spain.
Qibla in cities near Albacete
- Orihuela103.6° · 129 km
- Murcia103.4° · 129 km
- Elche104.1° · 129 km
- Valencia, Spain105.8° · 138 km
- Alicante104.3° · 139 km
- Cartagena, Murcia, Spain103.0° · 173 km
Qibla in Albacete: questions and answers
What is the Qibla direction in Albacete?
It is 103.9° from true north, which is east: 13.9° south of east.
How far is Albacete from Mecca?
4,407 km in a straight line over the globe, and 4,197 km to Medina.
When does the sun show the Qibla in Albacete?
On 229 days of 2027 the sun stands in the Qibla direction; the table on this page gives the exact time for the 1st and 15th of each month.
Why is the Qibla in Albacete not the direction shown on a map?
Flat maps distort directions. The line on a map points to 116.2°, but the shortest route on the globe leaves Albacete at 103.9°, and that is the Qibla.
Does the Qibla change during the year?
No. The direction of 103.9° is fixed; only the times when the sun lines up with it change from day to day.