Duero fennel

Hinojosa de Duero is a Spanish municipality and town in the province of Salamanca, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is integrated within the Vitigudino region and the sub-region of El Abadengo. It belongs to the judicial district of Vitigudino.

Its municipal area is made up of a single population center, it occupies a total area of 92.98 km² and according to the demographic data collected in the municipal register prepared by the INE in 2017, it has a population of 691 inhabitants. Part of its territory is located within the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, a protected natural space of great environmental and tourist value.

Etymology

As recorded in documents dating from the Middle Ages, it was formerly called "Finoiosa", a place name that comes from the Leonese word "fenoyu" or "finoio", which means "fennel" or "place abundant in fennel".. This etymological derivation also occurs in another locality in Salamanca, that of Pozos de Hinojo, indicated in some texts as "Pozos de Fenoio". During the Modern Age, the original Leonese name was castilianized by taking the current "Hinojosa" and adding the "de Duero" for the river that bathes the northern part of the municipal area.

Symbols

Shield

The heraldic shield that represents the municipality was approved on November 19, 1993 with the following coat of arms:

«I hear a match. First, silver with an enamelled hay branch of siple. Second, of gold with sugar waves at the tip, added of a striped flag, enameled with gules and sable asta. To the bell, the Spanish Royal Crown. »

Official State Gazette No. 20 of 20 December 1993

Geography

Hinojosa de Duero is located in the northwest of Salamanca. It borders with Portugal. It is 105 km from Salamanca capital.

It is integrated into the region of El Abadengo. It belongs to the El Abadengo Mancomunidad and to the judicial district of Vitigudino.

Its municipal area is located within the Arribes del Duero Natural Park, a protected natural area of great tourist attraction.

Northwest: Poiares (Portugal)	North: Saucelle	Northeast: Bermellar
West: The Fregenda		This: Bermellar
Southwest: The Fregenda	South: Sobradillo	Sureste: Lumbrales

History

Roman funeral registration found at the Mocalvo Castle site.

The human population of the municipality dates from the Neolithic (dolmens of Nava del Río), attesting to the later Vettona presence in the castros of Moncalvo and Escala, as well as the Roman presence in the necropolis of Cabeza de San Pedro in the confluence of the Huebra and Duero rivers. The very structure of Hinojosa seems to respond to a first Roman settlement, which would later have been used by medieval settlers when this town became part of the Kingdom of León from the XI, Leonese repopulation of which the hermitage of the Santísimo Cristo de la Misericordia, from the XIII, remains as a witness. The cession to the Temple of Abadengo by Fernando II de León in the XII century made this town depend on the Order of the Temple until the XIV century when it became a ancestral manor, the Marquesado de Hinojosa, from which the residents they detached in the XV century, leaving as a memory of that feat the "dance of the flag".

The signing of the Treaty of Alcañices in 1297, which readjusted the borders between León and Portugal, losing the territories of Riba-Coa on the Leonese side, affected Hinojosa by exposing it to a greater border situation, subsequently suffering some attacks and looting by the Portuguese army that had as a direct consequence at the beginning of the XIX century the depopulation of the town of San Leonardo, abandoned since then. With the territorial division of Spain in 1833, in which the current provinces are created, Hinojosa is framed within the Leonese Region, formed by the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca, of a merely classificatory nature, without administrative operation, which in broad strokes it would come to collect the old demarcation of the Kingdom of León (without Galicia, Asturias or Extremadura), becoming part of the judicial district of Vitigudino in 1844. In 1887 the La Fuente de San Esteban-Barca de Alba line was opened, which would link Salamanca with Porto, thanks to which Hinojosa began to have rail services for almost a century until its closure in 1985.

Demographics

Graphic of demographic evolution of Hinojosa de Duero between 1900 and 2021

Source: Spanish National Statistical Institute - Graphical development by Wikipedia.

According to the National Institute of Statistics, Hinojosa had, as of December 31, 2018, a total population of 669 inhabitants, of whom 337 were men and 332 women. Regarding the year 2000, the census reflects 840 inhabitants, of which 417 were men and 423 women. Therefore, the loss of population in the municipality for the period 2000-2018 has been 171 inhabitants, a 21% decrease.

Economy

The economy is based mainly on the exploitation of sheep and cattle, as well as the manufacture of cheese of the guarantee brand Queso Arribes de Salamanca. Likewise, in recent years the tourism sector has been strengthened, as the municipality is integrated into the Arribes del Duero Natural Park.

Culture

The patron saint festivities are celebrated in San Juan, every June 24, where there are popular bullfighting festivities and activities for the little ones.

Los hornazos: It is about going to eat in the countryside with friends or family, among other culinary delights the hornazo, during the days: Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of Easter.

In recent years, the first weekend of August, a medieval festival is celebrated, in which most of the town participates, a historical event that occurred in Hinojosa is represented, referring to the expulsion of the feudal by the town. The famous cheese fair is also held on the first weekend of May, where a large crowd of people come to try cheeses from all over the province and even from abroad (France, Portugal...)

Gastronomy

Among its culinary delights are hornazo, Hinojosa cheese, wafers, mantecados, and perronillas.

Parties

• February 5: Aguedas party.
• Last Sunday of April: Christ of Mercy.
• First weekend of May: International Fair of Cheese
• June 24: San Juan party.
• First weekend of August: El Feudal party.
• December 24: Hoguera de Los Quintos.

Monuments and places of interest

Basketball.

Huebra mouth in the river Duero seen from the Portuguese viewpoint of Penedo Durão.

• Hermitage of the Most Holy Christ of Mercy. Built in the thirteenth century at the time of independence of the Leonian kingdom.
• Church of Saint Peter. The centuryXVI, of one nave, with vaults of crossing in the main chapel. Inside, the Baroque altarpieces stand out.
• Monument to the Sacred Heart. erected in times of the II Republic, placed on stone chairs at the top of the hill of San Pedro.
• Puente de la Molinera, on the river Huebra, made in stone with three arches.
• Ojo Bridge, over the Froya River.
• Source of the Bishop. Medieval (Romanic).
• Fountain of the Gejo. Romana.
• Source of the Bishop. Medieval, it has a meringue in the vicinity.
• Watch tower.
• Almazara, today converted into a museum.
• Torre de la Iglesia de San Leonardo, en el despoblado de San Leonardo.
• Dólmenes de la Nava del Río.
• A dozen, approximately, of supposedly Roman tombs excavated in stone at the "La Alhaja" site, plus two others on the Fregeneda road.
• Basketball.
• Contraband lookout.
• Looker of the Hermitage of the Christ of Mercy.
• Mirador de la Peña La Vela.

Administration and politics

Municipal elections

The mayor of Hinojosa de Duero does not receive any type of financial benefit for his work as head of the town hall (2017).