It is a surname of Spanish origin. It is also the name of a municipality in the Province of Almería, the name of a beach and a tip of the Province of Guipúzcoa and that of a town in the Province of Córdoba. The word as such is the Castilianization of the Arabic term al-qal'a (Alcalá), which means "fortress". There are many sites called in Spain Alcolea (Huesca, Seville, Toledo, Guadalajara, Castellón and Ciudad Real). Surname of a Spanish painter, known as Carlos Alcolea and whose real name is Carlos García Alcolea.
