Villanueva del Fresno is a town in Badajoz Province in Extremadura, Spain.
Villanueva del Fresno is the southernmost town of the district of Olivença and also one of the closest to the Portuguese border, with which it has extensive commercial contacts.
History
People have lived in the Guadiana Valley since prehistoric times, with Paleolithic and Neolithic traces uncovered. The area's most important archaeological relic is a primitive, probably Islamic, settlement known as Cunco Castle, situated between the Ribeira de Cuncos and the Guadiana River. Probably, earlier settlements underlay the site.
The area was contested during the Reconquest, and later during Portugal's struggle for independence from the dual monarchy with the kings of Castille-Leon, during which it was renamed "Vila Nova de Portugal." In the late thirteenth century, the current Villanueva del Fresno was part of bayliato Templar Jerez de los Caballeros, until the pope dissolved the Knights Templar in 1312. In 1332, king Alfonso XI gave his mayordomo, Martin Fernandez Portocarrero, extensive lands surrounding the town. He married the daughter of another aristocrat, and their progeny became known as the Lords of Moguer and Villanueva del Fresno. The Portocarrero family became one of the most distinguished in Spain, and in 1530 Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor named Juan Portocarrero the Marquise of Villanueva del Fresno. Descendants served in Spain and the colonies and were recognized as grandees of Spain (as Dukes of Alba). The Castillian monarchs recognized the town as independent (and supplying its own troops). The Tower of Homage was built as an addition to the castle during the fourteenth century, to ensure both the town's defence and this part of the border. The Portuguese attacked Villanueva on several occasions, most of which were repulsed. In 1643, a Portuguese army commanded by Mathías of Albuquerque took the town and castle after a long siege. Both were razed in 1646 during the Portuguese Restoration War.
Reconstruction began about 25 years later, after the Treaty of Lisbon (1668). The "new" town was built on the other side of the hill from the original settlement, and that, like in the neighbouring town of Chelan, most of the new townspeople were Portuguese. The rebuilt town was designed with broad streets and plot lines which survive to the present day.
Population growth
Architecture and attractions
Only ruins remain of the fortress which once gave the town its strategic significance. The area between the surviving walls has been converted into an open-air amphitheater. This particular fortress was built in the fifteenth century with a powerful walled perimeter and keep with high fixed towers, but was destroyed two centuries later.
The 17th-century town has many traditional, sun-bleached two-story houses, especially on the streets Hilario Lopez, Nueva, San Juanito, Portocarrero, San Gínes and Holy Spirit (Pablo Iglesias). Some façades are ornamented by trellises, portals and balconies that give an air very peculiar to the locality. The Plaza de España is the town's traditional center, with the town council's historic building and the parish church (Our Lady of the Conception replacing Nuestra Senora de las Estrellas) comprising two sides. The plaza is noteworthy both for its large size and openness. Other historic sites include the Pilar del Conde and de la Mora, three hermitages (San Antonio, San Gínes de la Jara and Cristo de la Expiracion), aqueduct remains near the former convent of Nuestra Senora de la Luz and a restored medieval fortress in and a 17th-century bridge en route to nearby Alconchel.
Within its municipal area is the farm "High and Low Goat" of 2,688 hectares that the Board of Extremadura expropriated in 1990 from the Duchess of Alba and delivered to commoners from the nearby town of Zahínos.
The area also has natural features which have become tourist attractions for hikers, hunters and fisherman. Nearby wildlife areas include the Rio Alcarrache biodiversity corridor (with eagle owls, black storks and wildcats among the rare protected species) and the Sierra de Jerez bird protection area (very important overwintering area for storks and other norther European species). Two large hydroelectric dams have been built in the area, with reservoirs at Cunco and Aquelva (in Portugal). Fishing is permitted in the reservoirs, and observation areas have also been constructed.
Eating out
The area's gastronomy features Iberian ham, lamb and rabbit in the style of Villaneuva. Wild edible mushrooms are collected in the fields surrounding Villanueva del Fresno, including parasols, gurumelos and boletus edulis.