Consuegra

The town, or its surrounding area, has been inhabited since at least the 6th century BC, when Carpetanian tribes settled on the Calderico hill. In Roman times, a city was founded downhill, and worked as a trading post on the Laminium Way, a road connecting Toletum and Laminium. Bridges, roads, a dam (still in place), an aqueduct and a circus were built by the Romans.

After Arab domination, Consuegra became a part of Castille in 1083, and saw a big battle in 1097 that brought it shortly back to Arab rule (until 1099). The village and county were donated in 1183 to the Knights Hospitallier, who helped consolidate Christian rule in the area after the battles of Alarcos in 1195 and Navas de Tolosa in 1212.

Juan José of Austria, son of Philip IV and brother of Charles II, lived at the castle and renovated it. Castle also worked during those years as a 'royal jail'. During the Peninsular Wars (known locally as the Independence War), a battle had place in the town, where French troops looted and destroyed the town. Succesive Spanish governments during the war and after it had tried to expropiate all properties of Knights Hospitallier and other military orders in Spain, and they managed to do so definitely in 1855, forcing the Maltese Order to leave Consuegra (even if they still have a friendly relationship with the town to date). On 27th March 1927, Consuegra was declared officially a city, after losing this title in the 1097 battle.

It is located 704 m over sea level, with an extension of 358 km². It has a population of almost 10,000, having surpassed 11,000 in 2011, but falling since then due to migration to larger cities.

By bus:

If coming by public transport, bus is actually the most practical, if not the only, way to reach the town. Depending on your point of origin, you would need to take different companies:

If complementing a Toledo trip with a Consuegra tour, Samar (+34 902 257 025; www.samar.es) is the bus company to go. Apart from Toledo, it also offer routes to other villages around such as Mora, Orgaz, Los Yébenes and Urda. A daily weekday service continues to Villafranca.

Interbus (+34 91 652 0011; www.interbus.es) connects Consuegra with Madrid (Méndez Álvaro/Madrid Sur station), as part of the Madrid-Malagón line, with a daily weekday bus. It also provides a daily weekday bus to Alcázar de San Juan.

For reaching Consuegra from Jaén, Ciudad Real, Puertollano or other locations in the south, a connection in Madridejos could be required. Samar operates lines from Madrid (Méndez Álvaro, but sometimes continues to the airport) to Jaén, Linares, Valdepeñas, Villanueva de la Fuente, apart from connections to Consuegra (those are not syncronized, making connections sometimes difficult). Aisa operates lines from Madrid to Ciudad Real, Puertollano and Aldea del Rey. Interbus operates lines from Madrid to Argamasilla de Alba and Malagón, some of which also traverse Consuegra.

The bus station is next to the Amarguillo river (Av. Castilla-La Mancha), near the park where the town festival celebrated every year from 20 to 25 September, and not far from the town center. It also houses a tourism office (+34 925 593 118).

By car: