Villarroya de los Pinares is a municipality located in the

Maestrazgo The Maestrazgo () or Maestrat () is a natural and historical mountainous region, located at the eastern end of the Sistema Ibérico mountain range, in Spain. It encompasses the north of the Autonomous Community of Valencia, in Castellón provinc ...

region,

province of Teruel Teruel (Catalan: ''Terol'' ) is a province of Aragon, in the northeast of Spain. The capital is Teruel. It is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Castellón, Valencia (including its exclave Rincón de Ademuz), Cuenca, Guadalajara, and Za ...

, Aragon, Spain. According to the 2004 census (

INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

), the municipality had a population of 190 inhabitants. It is in the northern part of the Gúdar mountain range next to the Guadalope River at an altitude of 1,337 meters and at a distance of 51 km from the provincial capital,

Teruel Teruel () is a city in Aragon, located in eastern Spain, and is also the capital of Teruel Province. It has a population of 35,675 in 2014 making it the least populated provincial capital in the country. It is noted for its harsh climate, with ...

on the A-226 road.

Local Policy

Last mayors of Villarroya de los Pinares

Demography

Like many other municipalities in the

and the province as a whole, Villarroya de los Pinares has a low population density (close to 3 inhabitants / km²). For decades, the municipality has experienced a gradual depopulation of its territory, in parallel to the aging of its inhabitants, as has happened in so many other places of mainly agricultural and livestock vocation, located in the

plateaus In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ha ...

and

mountain range A mountain range or hill range is a series of mountains or hills arranged in a line and connected by high ground. A mountain system or mountain belt is a group of mountain ranges with similarity in form, structure, and alignment that have arise ...

s of inland Spain.

Economy

Traditionally, its source of livelihood is agriculture and livestock. More recently,

rural tourism Rural tourism is a tourism that focuses on actively participating in a rural lifestyle. It can be a variant of ecotourism. Many villages can facilitate tourism because many villagers are hospitable and eager to welcome or host visitors. Agriculture ...

has begun to become one more reason to visit the municipality. Nearby are the ski slopes of the

Sierra de Gúdar Sierra de Gúdar is a mountain range in the Gúdar-Javalambre and Maestrazgo comarcas of Aragon and the Alto Mijares comarca of the Valencian Community, Spain. The highest point in the range is Peñarroya (2,019 m). Geography This mountain ...

. The abundant hunting and fishing are additional attractions.

Buildings

The municipality of Villarroya de los Pinares was declared a

Historic-artistic In Spain, the ''historic-artistic'' is a legal statement that gives assets declared as historical-artistic monuments in a given locality the protection of Spanish cultural goods, which is regulated by the Ministry of Culture of Spain. See also * Bi ...

Site in 1982. Many historic buildings in the urban area are crowned with ancient shields and inscriptions. The municipality's

Gothic church Gothic architecture (or pointed architecture) is an architectural style that was prevalent in Europe from the late 12th to the 16th century, during the High and Late Middle Ages, surviving into the 17th and 18th centuries in some areas. It e ...

, built-in 1459 and dedicated to the Virgen de la Asunción, has a remarkable polygonal apse and a porticoed gallery. It has undergone several repairs since then. Cardinal

Francisco Peña Francisco Peña (Pegna) (born at Villarroya de los Pinares, near Saragossa, about 1540; died at Rome, in 1612) was a Spanish canon lawyer. Life He devoted himself to the study of law at Valencia. Later Philip II of Spain appointed him auditor ...

, who always harbored the dream of transforming it into a cathedral, lies buried in it. The hermitage built in honor of the patron saint of the place, San Benón, stands in the vicinity of the municipality. Also, in the vicinity of this, is the castle in ruins that belonged to

James I of Aragón James I the Conqueror ( es, Jaime el Conquistador, ca, Jaume el Conqueridor; 2 February 1208 – 27 July 1276) was King of Aragon and Lord of Montpellier from 1213 to 1276; King of Majorca from 1231 to 1276; and Valencia from 1238 to 127 ...

, King of Aragon, Count of Barcelona, and Lord of Montpellier.

Festivals

Two patron saint festivals are celebrated in the village, one on 16 June in honor of San Benón, and the other on 25 July in honor of St. James the Apostle.

Illustrious personages

* Cardinal

, the illustrious son of the municipality, inhabited a house of architectural interest, located in the municipality of Villarroya de los Pinares, which was built at the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the XVII and where they find several noble buildings. * ''Cmdte.'' ''Don'' Narciso Alegre, who was a

Carlist Carlism ( eu, Karlismo; ca, Carlisme; ; ) is a Traditionalist and Legitimist political movement in Spain aimed at establishing an alternative branch of the Bourbon dynasty – one descended from Don Carlos, Count of Molina (1788–1855) – ...

contemporaneous with

Ramón Cabrera, 1st Duke of Maestrazgo Ramon Cabrera y Griñó, 1st Count of Morella, 1st Marquis of Ter (27 December 1806 – 24 May 1877) was a Carlist general of Catalonia. He renounced the combined and Spanish grandee title of 1st Duke of Maestrazgo with its annual stipend in favo ...

, was another Villarroya de los Pinares resident.
Narciso Alegre y Pellicer
son of Narciso Alegre and Juana Pellicer, who was exiled to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

with his younger brother, Francisco, after the

third Carlist War The Third Carlist War ( es, Tercera Guerra Carlista) (1872–1876) was the last Carlist War in Spain. It is sometimes referred to as the "Second Carlist War", as the earlier "Second" War (1847–1849) was smaller in scale and relatively trivial ...

. * The luthier Telesforo Julve, based in Valencia.

Images

Image:Calle de Villarroya de los Pinares.jpg, Calle de Villarroya de los Pinares Image:Vista de Villarroya de los Pinares.jpg, Vista de Villarroya de los Pinares Image:Villarroya de los Pinares.jpg, Iglesia de Villarroya de los Pinares Image:Ermita de San Benón, Villarroya de los Pinares (Teruel).jpg, Ermita de San Benón Image:Torreón (Villarroya de los Pinares, Teruel, Aragón).jpg, Torreón (Villarroya de los Pinares, Teruel, Aragón) Image:Alegre y Pellicer ancestral home.jpg, Alegre y Pellicer ancestral home Image:Alegre family emblem.jpg, Historical emblem of the Alegre family of Villarroya de los Pinares Image:Narciso Alegre y Pellicer.png, Narciso Alegre y Pellicer,

exile to the

References

Municipalities in the Province of Teruel {{Teruel-geo-stub