La Alberca
Member of Los Pueblos más Bonitos de España
In 1940 La Alberca became the first village in Spain declared a historic-artistic site, a status that has kept its streets intact. It lies at 1,048 m in the Sierra de Francia, partly on a pre-Roman hillfort, and many door lintels carry religious inscriptions. Each Easter Monday the village recalls how, in 1465, its women beat Portuguese troops and seized their banner, still kept here.
Highlights
- Church of the Asunción, with a 16th-century polychrome granite pulpit
- Shrine of Majadas Viejas in chestnut and oak woods, with a Romanesque Virgin
- The Las Batuecas valley and its Carmelite monastery with scattered hermitages
- Sanctuary of the Virgin on the Peña de Francia summit, at 1,723 m
- The banner pilgrimage, when the captured Portuguese flag is carried out
Text adapted from Wikipedia (La Alberca (Salamanca), La Alberca (EN), La Alberca (IT)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Population: 1,034
Events through the year
- Raffle of the marrano de San AntónThe pig fed by villagers all year is raffled at the church
- Las CandelasProcession with the Virgin of the Assumption
- El Día del PendónBanner taken from the Portuguese in 1475 raised; free wine
- Corpus ChristiDeclared a festival of regional tourist interest
- Romería a Majadas ViejasTo the hermitage in the chestnut woods, with a loa and capea
- OfertorioFeast of the Assumption in regional dress; a folk comedy follows
- Romería a la Peña de Francia
- CalbochadaChestnuts roasted in the square with local folk music
Dates follow the traditional patterns in our sources: check locally before you travel.
Adapted from Wikipedia (La Alberca (Salamanca)). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Translated and adapted from open data: Registro de fiestas de interés turístico de Castilla y León, Junta de Castilla y León (CC BY 4.0).
Specialities of Castile and León
Typical of the region rather than of this village.
- Lechazo asadoDish
- Cochinillo asado (ES)Dish
- Jamón de Guijuelo (ES)Cured meat
- Cecina de León (ES)Cured meat
- Botillo del Bierzo (ES)Cured meat
Adapted from Wikipedia (Gastronomía de Castilla y León). Available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where to sleep
12 places to stay within 3 km
- Hotels 6
- B&Bs and guest houses 4
- Campsites 2
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Thermal baths nearby
- Thermal spa: Balneario de Montemayor · ~55 min by car
- Thermal spa: Balneario · ~55 min by car
- Thermal spa: El Salugral Termal Resort · ~1 h by car
Data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
Nearby member villages
- Mogarraz · 4.9 km
- Miranda del Castañar · 9.6 km
- Candelario · 34 km
- Robledillo de Gata · 36 km
- Ciudad Rodrigo · 37 km