Villardompardo

Nature

The landscape offered by Villardompardo is almost entirely flat, with very gently sloping hills, and rather monotonous, as it is almost entirely covered by olive groves. The Salado de Villares stream runs through the municipality; it has a low flow and dries up in summer, which is why it is not used for irrigation. Most of the crops are rainfed. 

As in most other towns of the Campiña, natural vegetation is practically non-existent, reduced to field boundaries, paths and the banks of the Salado stream. 

The olive tree plays an important ecological role: numerous birds, mammals and reptiles find shelter in its old trunks, and its fruit is also a highly energy-rich food source. 

Few species are found continuously in pure olive groves, as they are mostly used as feeding or transit areas by certain species. Here you can spot species such as the European serin and the greenfinch; and in winter, the blackcap, the robin and the song thrush. 

Biodiversity in the olive grove increases where streams appear alongside riparian woodland or Mediterranean scrub boundaries made up of reeds, oleanders and tamarisks. Here you can find house sparrows, chaffinches, goldfinches, nightingales, crested larks, quail and carrion crows. Amphibians: common toad, green frog, salamander; reptiles: Montpellier snake, ocellated lizard and wall lizards; mammals: hares, rabbits, foxes, badgers, genets… 

The Charca de Pajarejo, to the northeast of the town, is a natural pond that only forms after heavy rainfall, functioning as a temporary wetland ecosystem where various waterbirds nest.

Parties and Events

Villardompardo's traditional festivals are closely linked to agricultural work: 

• San Antón, on 17 January. On the eve of this day, bonfires are lit year after year at the request of the brothers of the Brotherhood of San Antón. 
• La Candelaria and San Blas, on 2 and 3 February. San Blas, protector against throat ailments, is honoured with the making and eating of the rosquillas (ring-shaped pastries) that bear his name on this day. 
• San Isidro Labrador, on 15 May. This is a pilgrimage that has been held since 1968. In the morning, the townspeople, many on horseback or in carriages, set off in procession carrying the Saint to the spot known as "Las Piedras de Eulogio", where Mass is celebrated. Locals then enjoy a lively day together. 
• Feast of Corpus Christi. A festival of special significance in Villardompardo. Residents prepare altars, and carpet and decorate the streets along which the Eucharistic procession will pass. Altars adorned with beautiful traditional motifs and streets covered in flowers. San Roque. 
• San Roque, protector against plagues and epidemics, is celebrated and venerated on 16 August with both festive and religious events. On the 14th, the saint is carried from his hermitage to the Parish Church, and after asking for protection from all harm on behalf of the townspeople, the image is returned to its hermitage. 
• St John's Eve. It is also customary to celebrate St John's Eve, on 24 June, when lamps are made from hollowed-out watermelons or pumpkins, with lit candles placed inside. 
• Patron Saint Festivities of San Francisco de Asís and the Virgen del Rosario. Held from 4 to 7 September in honour of the town's patron saints.

Gastronomy

• "Hoyo". The popular "hoyo" is bread soaked in olive oil, enjoyed together with salt cod, olives and wine. Served with sugar, it has for decades been one of the healthiest snacks for children. 
• Migas (fried breadcrumbs) is the dish with the longest tradition among locals, always served with pork crackling, chorizo, fried peppers, sardines and herrings, and topped off with green olives, grapes or melon. 
• Artichoke salad. Made using artichoke hearts, together with chopped tomato and a little lettuce or endive. 
• "Oil and vinegar", made with the same ingredients as Cordoban salmorejo, but with the ingredients chopped rather than blended. 
• Salt cod stew, or Lenten stews, which are a must during Holy Week. 

The town also boasts delicious pastries: 

• "Roscos de sartén" (fried ring doughnuts) and "gusanillos", the local name for the "pestiños" so common in the province's cuisine. 
• "Hornazos", a bread roll with a hard-boiled egg baked inside. Eaten on Maundy Thursday night. 
• "Bizcocho de la princesa" (princess sponge cake), sweets similar to traditional madeleines, but smaller and much moister.

History

The discovery of archaeological remains predating the Middle Ages in Villardompardo, such as Neolithic axes, Roman troughs and brick pavements, indicates that the area was inhabited in earlier periods. 

In the surroundings of the town, traces of Iberian and Roman presence have been found, including the possible existence of rural villas devoted to agriculture in places such as Las Piedras de la Rata and Cerro Pelado. 

However, there is no mention of Villardompardo until its conquest by Ferdinand III the Saint in 1245. The municipality was a small hamlet devastated by the war between Christians and Muslims. It was granted by the king to a nobleman who accompanied him, Don Pedro Aznar Pardo, from whom it took its name (El Villar de Don Pardo), with the task of resettling it and organising an appropriate defensive system. It is very likely that the castle was built around that time, though smaller than the one we see today. The instability of the war meant it was repeatedly devastated and resettled until, in 1371, King Henry II turned it into a lordship entrusted to Don Pedro Ruiz de Torres, on condition that he resettle it once again. 

In the 15th century, the castle was used militarily in the fight against knights of the Order of Calatrava who had risen up against King Henry IV. The town gradually gained more privileges, and in 1558 Philip II elevated the lordship to a county, naming Don Fernando de Portugal y Torres the first Count of Villardompardo. He was responsible for the major works carried out on the castle in the 16th century to transform it into a residential palace. 

Under the feudal regime, the population went through very difficult times — famines, wars and epidemics — until the Constitution of 1812, which abolished lordships and entailed estates. The two 19th-century disentailments, that of Mendizábal and that of Madoz, which put the Count's lands, Church lands and communal lands up for sale, were decisive in significantly boosting the local economy and population. 

The population held steady until, in the 1960s and 1970s, its people emigrated to other, more industrialised areas of Spain or to European countries, in search of a better standard of living.