What is "abla"

Abla is a municipality of Almería province, in Spain. It is considered to be the Abula mentioned by Ptolemy in his Geographia (II 6, 60) as located in the Iberian region of Bastetania.

Abula is said to be one of the first cities in Hispania that were Christianized, specifically by Saint Secundus, one of the group of Seven Apostolic Men (siete varones apostólicos), Christian clerics ordained in Rome by Saints Peter and Paul and sent to evangelize Spain. Little is known of a second bishop of Abula, called Iulius, living in the 2nd century. No longer a residential bishopric, Abula is today listed by the Catholic Church as a titular see.

Another candidate for identification with ancient Abula is Ávila, which may instead have been the ancient Obila.