Don Benito () is a Spanish town and municipality in the
province of Badajoz
The province of Badajoz () is a province of western Spain located in the autonomous community of Extremadura. It was formed in 1833. It is bordered by the provinces of Cáceres in the north, Toledo, Ciudad Real in the east, Córdoba in the s ...
,
Extremadura
Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...
, near the left bank of the
Guadiana
The Guadiana River (, also , , ), or Odiana, is an international river defining a long stretch of the Portugal-Spain border, separating Extremadura and Andalusia (Spain) from Alentejo and Algarve (Portugal). The river's basin extends from the e ...
river. According to the 2014
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...
, the municipality has a population of 37,011.
History
Don Benito dates from the 15th century, when it was founded by refugees from
Don Llorente, who deserted their own town due to the danger of floods from the Guadiana.
On 28 March 1809, the 9 km separating Don Benito from
Medellín
Medellín ( or ), officially the Municipality of Medellín ( es, Municipio de Medellín), is the second-largest city in Colombia, after Bogotá, and the capital of the department of Antioquia. It is located in the Aburrá Valley, a central re ...
was the site of a major French victory against Spanish troops during the
Peninsular War
The Peninsular War (1807–1814) was the military conflict fought in the Iberian Peninsula by Spain, Portugal, and the United Kingdom against the invading and occupying forces of the First French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. In Spain ...
.
By 2021, the municipal government of Don Benito worked alongside that of
Villanueva de la Serena
Villanueva de la Serena is a city in the Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. It has a population of 26,111 (2010) and forms part of a larger urban area with the neighbouring town of Don Benito.
History
Founded in the thirteenth century as ...
to fuse the two neighbouring municipalities into a single one, paving the way for a 2022 non-binding consultation. On 8 November 2021, the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/ shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...
sanctioned the celebration of the consultation, to be held on 20 February 2022. Both municipalities approved the merging, in the case of Don Benito by a whisker (a 66.2% of yes votes relative to the 66.0% threshold set in advance).
Geography
Don Benito has 37,048 inhabitants, and is part of an urban area with
Villanueva de la Serena
Villanueva de la Serena is a city in the Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. It has a population of 26,111 (2010) and forms part of a larger urban area with the neighbouring town of Don Benito.
History
Founded in the thirteenth century as ...
(26,071 inhabitants) 5 km away.
The municipality is composed by the town of Don Benito and seven villages:
Demographics
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Transport
The town is served by a
railway station
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
on the
Ciudad Real
Ciudad Real (, ; en, "Royal City") is a municipality of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile–La Mancha, capital of the province of Ciudad Real. It is the 5th most populated municipality in the region.
History
It was founde ...
-
Badajoz
Badajoz (; formerly written ''Badajos'' in English) is the capital of the Province of Badajoz in the autonomous community of Extremadura, Spain. It is situated close to the Portuguese border, on the left bank of the river Guadiana. The population ...
railway, part of an international line that links
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
with
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
. It has been interested, along with the nearby
Villanueva de la Serena
Villanueva de la Serena is a city in the Province of Badajoz, Extremadura, Spain. It has a population of 26,111 (2010) and forms part of a larger urban area with the neighbouring town of Don Benito.
History
Founded in the thirteenth century as ...
, by a project of a
tram
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
way, not yet finalized.
["The project of the Don Benito-Villanueva tramway will be taken by the regional board"]
''Hoy
Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the tw ...
'', 12-2-2008 The town is also the southern terminus of the
EXA2 motorway from
Miajadas
Miajadas () is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. According to the 2005 census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given popula ...
.
Famous residents
*
Florinda Chico
Florinda Chico Martín-Mora Medal of Merit in Labour, MML (24 April 1926 – 19 February 2011) was a Spanish actress of film, theater and television.
Biography
Florinda Chico Martín-Mora was born in 1926 in Don Benito (Province of Badajoz, Ba ...
(1926-2011), actress
*
Jesús Gil Manzano
Jesús Gil Manzano (; born 4 February 1984) is a Spanish football referee. He officiates in the Spanish Primera División. He made his La Liga debut on 25 August 2012 in a game between Málaga and Mallorca. Gil Manzano also appeared in the 20 ...
(b. 1984), referee
*
Juanma Gómez (b. 1981), footballer
*
Pedro Porro
Pedro Antonio Porro Sauceda (; born 13 September 1999) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a right back or right winger for club Tottenham Hotspur, on loan from Primeira Liga club Sporting CP, and the Spain national team.
He sta ...
(b. 1999), footballer
Twin towns
*
Fquih Ben Salah
Fquih Ben Salah or ''Fkih Ben Saleh'' Fkih Ben Salah (in Berber: Fqih Ben Ṣaleḥ, ⴼⵇⵉⵀ ⴱⴻⵏ ⵚⴰⵍⴻⵃ; in Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: ...
, Morocco
References
External links
Don Benito official website
Municipalities in the Province of Badajoz
{{Extremadura-geo-stub