Tobaruela Castle is a very late fortified residence in which we can identify the main stages of the architectural evolution that buildings of this type experienced during the 15th century. Originally, they were castles of a purely military nature, with a keep that served a dual defensive and residential function. The evolution began with the provision of a residential area laid out around a central courtyard, and the conversion of the tower into a purely defensive element. Over time, the keep became smaller and eventually disappeared entirely, and the space it occupied was used to improve the layout of the castle’s residential area.

Tobaruela Castle (which evidence suggests may not have been completed as intended) has a rectangular layout with a tower of the same shape in its south-east corner. This may have served as the keep, and would have defended the main entrance. In the south-west corner there is an elegant bi-lobed tower that has three floors, each of which boasts a vaulted ceiling. The castle was protected on three sides by an outer wall and a dry moat. 

The east wall houses the main entrance, providing access to the castle’s interior, set into a rectangular façade constructed from ashlars laid out in a stretcher-bond pattern and framed by stylised pinnacles finished with plant motifs. The entrance is formed of a basket-handle arch with decorative mouldings around the inside. Above the arch there is a series of heraldic coats of arms: below and to the left we find the Portuguese coat of arms, referring to Joan of Portugal, the first wife of Alonso Sánchez de Carvajal. To the right is the coat of arms of the family of his second wife, María Pacheco. Above them are the coats of arms of the Carvajal and Cueva families.

Inside, the castle is laid out around a courtyard with a portico on one side, above which are large windows formed of basket-handle arches supported by columns. The rooms and halls are laid out around the courtyard, and are mainly located on the second floor.

In the Late Middle Ages, the conflict between Peter I and Henry II of Trastámara resulted in the political advancement of a number of families, including the Carvajals. Linares became a sizeable rural population centre and was named in contemporary sources as one of the largest villages within the jurisdiction of the Council of Baeza at the start of the 15th century. Its growing reputation drew a number of nobles of lesser rank to the area.

At that time, rural fortresses of the kind typically inhabited by the aristocracy also began to appear in towns, as stately homes incorporating defensive elements. They were solidly built dwellings that had a military appearance on the outside, but with refined interiors. We might think of them as bastions that provided refuge in the event of conflict breaking out between noble families living in urban areas.

It was during this period that work began on Tobaruela Castle, a very late military structure that reflects the prevailing context of political strife at the end of the Middle Ages. With the aim of putting an end to the conflicts between noble families that had characterised the previous centuries, the Catholic Monarchs ordered the destruction of numerous castles and forbade the building of new ones. Some nobles ignored their decree and built fortresses anyway, such as Tobaruela Castle, which was built in 1475 by Alonso Sánchez Carvajal within the context of his clashes with Juan de Benavides.

To get around the royal prohibition and avoid having to request permission from the Catholic Monarchs, Carvajal justified the construction of this castle to the authorities by arguing that he was in fact restoring an existing fortress. This has given rise to the hypothesis that the castle may be built on the remains of an earlier fortification.