Architecture everywhere has left its mark for centuries and played an important role in the annals of history. Anyone who travels through the peninsular territory travels through the history of Spain. A history that has taken us through many stages: monarchies, empires, republics… And also through transcendental moments linked to wars, peace treaties, territorial agreements or appointments. Episodes which marked a before and an after and which continue to be present through numerous buildings with a prolific past, which today are part of our heritage: the Paradores. Spain is home to an unprecedented network of these buildings. Many of them, originally, had a different use – monasteries, hospitals, pilgrims’ hostels, etc. – of that which is attributed to them today. However, these uses have been central to much of the pages of history books. Today we show you the historical context and relevance of the events that occurred in some of these buildings.
The enclave that would mark the beginning of Spanish democracy
If history and the Paradores go hand in hand, the Sierra de Gredos represents the first union of this relationship. The natural area of Gredos was chosen almost a century ago, in 1928, by King Alfonso XIII to establish the first Parador in a network that would soon extend to the entire country. As a pioneer, he perfectly symbolizes the Network’s commitment since its creation to building hotels in unique natural enclaves. The building was constructed from elements transferred from the Villacastín manor, constituting a welcoming stone and slate building.
Although it is the first of many, this Parador occupies a unique place in the pages of Spanish history books. It was a symbol of the transformation of a country, since within its walls the first draft of the Spanish Constitution was signed, the first democratic since 1939. In March 1978, when the drafting of the Magna Carta seemed to be at a standstill and was not could be Glimpsed the ideal conjunction of the pillars of Spanish democracy, seven young politicians from the Constitutional Affairs Commission decided to seek calm and discretion to try to ease the differences between the negotiators and achieve a agreement. consensus. Miguel Herrero Rodríguez de Miñón, Gabriel Cisneros Laborda, José Pedro Pérez Llorca, Gregorio Peces Barba, Manuel Fraga Iribarne, Jordi Sole Tura and Miquel Roca Junyent took a step forward and isolated themselves from the whirlwind, disagreements and controversies to find agreement and inspiration. in this refuge in the Avila mountains. After a week of reflection, where there was no shortage of meetings and disagreements, the consensus came from the hand of the only witness, the Peak of Almanzor, who slipped through the window of the Room of Silence, today known under the name of the Speaker Room.
Parador de Gredos is an Internet pioneer, but also the first pillar of Spanish democracy. The walls of this building served as inspiration and guide for the preparation of the first text of the Constitution which has survived to the present day.
Castile-La Mancha and the first road shelter
Once the Spanish Constitution was promulgated and approved, procedures began for the next historic stage of Spanish history: the construction of a State of Autonomies, where the country would be organized into 17 communities. This process began with the accession to autonomy of the Basque Country and Catalonia in 1979, and ended in 1995, with the two autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla.
However, in this other important fact, another of the most historic and relevant Paradores also plays a leading role: the Parador de Manzanares. In 1982, the first roadside hostel in Spain, built in the heart of the La Mancha plain and which today functions as a Parador, was the meeting place for the first meeting aimed at drafting the Statute of Autonomy of Castile- The Channel. On July 21, 1981, when democracy had barely begun and after a previous meeting in the Provincial Council of Albacete, 118 national and provincial deputies from the UCD, PSOE and PCE, who formed the Joint Assembly decided to come together at this geographic point to begin to shape the process. From there was born the writing of a text that certain newspapers called the Status of Manzanares. It was a long and arduous process, since Madrid was part of what was called Castilla La Nueva, and it required another strategic meeting in Alarcón. The definitive approval of the autonomy of Castilla-La Mancha dates back to 1983, after celebrating its 40th anniversary last year.
The beginning of national sovereignty
The Parador de Benavente shelters part of the historic enclave in which European parliamentarism germinated, since one of the first democratic courts in Europe was held there, in 1202, with Alfonso IX – the first, according to the chroniclers , took place in 1188 in Lion-. This popular participation had an important importance since the participation of the representatives of the people, an assembly of notables composed of clergy, nobles and representatives of the cities, began to impose itself.
At a historic crossroads, between León and Zamora, the Caracol Tower survives standing. The only vestige of the disappeared fortress of Pimentel, where the Parador de Benavente is located today. And at this crossroads another historical moment arises in which this building was the great protagonist. In this fortress the Concordia of Benavente was signed in 1230, by which the kingdoms of Castile and León were unified under the reign of Fernando III. the Saint. More than two centuries later, it housed Doña Juana of Castile and her son Charles V, who again convened courts there, due to communal revolts. The castle was destroyed during the War of Independence, surviving the iconic Torre del Caracol, which has been part of the Parador since its opening in 1972.
Where agreement and harmony changed the course of Spanish history
In a turbulent period, between May 1410 and June 1412, when the crown of Aragon found itself without a monarch following the death of Martin I The human -death without descendants- maintaining order and harmony between peoples was complicated. It was only on February 15, 1412 that these turbulent months seemed behind us, thanks to the agreement reached in the church of Santa María de Alcañiz, where it was agreed to appoint nine delegates and vote by majority for the new king. This historic moment is known as La Concordia and it is where Fernando de Antequera, Ferdinand I of Aragon, was elected king.
This fact not only helped calm the waters of society, but also changed the course of history in the middle of the late Aragonese Middle Ages. A fact that is still very present in the Calatravos Castle, where the members stayed during this period until the election of the monarch, and which today functions as Parador de Alcañiz or Parador de Concordlocated a few meters from the church, direct witness to the agreement.
A monumental complex, half castle, half convent, built at the top of Cerro Pui Pinos between the 12th and 13th centuries, which still retains its original keep and the Palace of the Commanders, from the 18th century.
The New World passed through Tordesillas
Tordesillas was the seat of the royal court and the prison of Queen Juana I of Castile, daughter of the Catholic Monarchs, who died imprisoned in the city. An enclave of crucial importance for the history of Spain, because without it the history of economic relations between the new and old continent would not be understood.
In the so-called Treaty Houses, very close to the current Parador de Tordesillas, the distribution of the areas of navigation and conquest of the Atlantic Ocean and the New World (America) was signed, through a line located 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands. On June 7, 1494, the representatives of Isabella and Ferdinand, kings of Castile and Aragon, on the one hand, and those of King John II of Portugal, on the other hand, decided to put an end to a hostile and tense environment and to alleviate tensions between the two crowns.
This signing placed Tordesillas on the central map of the history of the New World and the history of Spain, making the Treaty Houses one of the most important monuments of this city, a must-see for anyone visiting the Parador of Tordesillas. An establishment located on the outskirts of the city which, after 5 months of closure for works, reopens its doors in mid-January to transport the traveler to the center of history.
