Madrigal de las Altas Torres (in English: Madrigal of the high towers) is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

located in the

province of Ávila Ávila () is a province of central-western Spain, in the southern part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is bordered on the south by the provinces of Toledo and Cáceres, on the west by Salamanca, on the north by Valladolid, an ...

, autonomous community of

Castile and León Castile and León ( es, Castilla y León ; ast-leo, Castiella y Llión ; gl, Castela e León ) is an autonomous community in northwestern Spain. It was created in 1983, eight years after the end of the Francoist regime, by the merging of the ...

. Displaying a total area of 106.80 km², the municipality has, as of 2019, a registered population of 1,415. The municipality is located in the northernmost end of the province of Ávila, near the provinces of

Salamanca Salamanca () is a city in western Spain and is the capital of the Province of Salamanca in the autonomous community of Castile and León. The city lies on several rolling hills by the Tormes River. Its Old City was declared a UNESCO World Heritag ...

and

Valladolid Valladolid () is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in Spain and the primary seat of government and de facto capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castile and León. It is also the capital of the province o ...

. The toponym is recorded earliest in the middle ages as and ''Madrigal'', whilst the second part of the current placename is a late modern addition. Hitherto a hamlet of the land of

Arévalo Arévalo is a municipality in Spain, it is situated in the province of Ávila and is part of the autonomous community of Castile and León. The name came from the Celtic word ''arevalon'', meaning "place near the wall." Regional importance The ...

, Madrigal earned a ''

fuero (), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ; all ...

'' in 1017 (ratified in 1168), becoming closely linked to the affairs of the

House of Trastámara The House of Trastámara (Spanish, Aragonese and Catalan: Casa de Trastámara) was a royal dynasty which first ruled in the Crown of Castile and then expanded to the Crown of Aragon in the late middle ages to the early modern period. They were a ...

in the late middle ages. The town was encircled by walls in the Middle Ages (following a near-circular outline). Today some parts of the walls are still preserved, most notably the southwestern part. Madrigal experienced a massive

rural flight Rural flight (or rural exodus) is the migratory pattern of peoples from rural areas into urban areas. It is urbanization seen from the rural perspective. In industrializing economies like Britain in the eighteenth century or East Asia in the ...

after the 1950s. The

Junta of Castile and León The Junta of Castile and León ( es, Junta de Castilla y León; JCyL) is the governing and administrative body of the Spanish autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat auto ...

declared the historical centre of the municipality as

bien de interés cultural A Bien de Interés Cultural is a category of the heritage register in Spain. The term is also used in Venezuela and other Spanish-speaking countries. The term literally means a "good of cultural interest" ("goods" in the economic sense) and inclu ...

(''conjunto histórico'') in September 2020.

Notable people

Vasco de Quiroga Vasco de Quiroga (1470/78 – 14 March 1565) was the first bishop of Michoacán, Mexico, and one of the judges (''oidores'') in the second Real Audiencia of Mexico – the high court that governed New Spain – from January 10, 1531, to April 16, ...

(1477/1479 Madrigal de las Altas Torres (Ávila) - 1565 Quiroga (Michoacán, México) *

Alonso Tostado Alonso Tostado (also ''Al(f)onso Fernández de Madrigal'', variously known as ''Alphonsus Tostatus'', ''Tostatus Abulensis'', and in Spanish as ''El Tostado'' or ''El Abulense''; ca. 1410His year of birth is unknown; it is often estimated as c. 1 ...

(d. 1455) *

Isabella I of Castile Isabella I ( es, Isabel I; 22 April 1451 – 26 November 1504), also called Isabella the Catholic (Spanish: ''la Católica''), was Queen of Castile from 1474 until her death in 1504, as well as List of Aragonese royal consorts, Queen consort ...

(1451–1504), Queen of Castile * Catalina de Balmaseda y San Martín, prioress, was born here in 1543.

References

External links

* City of Madrigal
Madrigaldelasaltastorres.es
Municipalities in the Province of Ávila {{Ávila-geo-stub