Moratinos, is a town in

Palencia Palencia () is a city of Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Palencia. Located in the Northwest of the Iberian Peninsula, in the northern half o ...

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 ...

which is located about 67 kilometers northwest of the capital of the

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

. It is best known to outsiders for "el castillo de Moratinos" (a.k.a. "

Hobbiton The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in ''The Lord of the Rings'' and other works. The Shire is an inland area settled exclusively by hobbits, the Shire-folk, largely sheltered from the goings-on in the ...

"), an ages-old hill in the town center studded with family owned wine-storage caves. As of 2002, Moratinos' population was listed at 78 people, but most registered residents live in cities and commute to Moratinos for weekends or festivals. In January 2015, 18 people lived in the town year-round. Most are farmers. Three are foreign-born immigrants who discovered Moratinos while walking the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, which passes through the heart of the town. Moratinos is notable in Palencia for its sudden growth in businesses. In 2010 a carpenter was the only businessman in town; in 2015 Moratinos was home to a

hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared b ...

, a pilgrim's albergue, and a bar-restaurant. Weekly Mass is served at La Iglesia de Santo Tomas Apostol (18th century); the annual homecoming fiesta is held the third weekend of August. Moratinos is home to historian Modesto Celada Vaquero and journalist Rebekah Scott. Other villages in the municipality include San Nicolás del Real Camino

Footnotes

Hamlets in the Province of Palencia Province of Palencia {{Spain-geo-stub