King's Garden
Huerta de Rey is a municipality and Spanish town in the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castilla y León. It is located in the Sierra de la Demanda region and belongs to the judicial district of Salas de los Infantes.
Geography
It is 80 km from Burgos, the capital of its province. This town is located on the Ruta de la Lana and the Camino del Cid, the route of El Cid's exile.
The 36 km long Arandilla River is born in Huerta and pours its waters into the Duero as it passes through Aranda de Duero.
The vegetation of the landscape is composed of black pine, sessile and juniper forests. There are a variety of fragrant and medicinal herbs.
As for the animal world, the following live in its pine forests: the roe deer, the wild boar, the fox, the hare, the squirrel, the marten, the ferret and the wild cat. Minor mammals: hedgehogs, shrews, mice,... Birds: common partridge, quail, vulture, wood pigeon, crow.
The most common minerals in the area are kaolinite, azurite, malachite and goethite.
History
In the Census of Neighborhoods of the Crown of Castile carried out in 1591 it was named in the same way and belonged to the Partido de los Arauces, included in the province of Burgos. The party had 876 pecheros residents.
Villa belonging to the Jurisdiction of Los Arauzos, de royale, in the district of Aranda de Duero, with Ordinary Mayor.
On December 13, 1836, during the First Carlist War, the expedition of the Carlist general Gómez, in its retreat from Algeciras to Orduña, passed through the town. On October 14, 1837, the surviving Carlists withdrew from the Royal Expedition, here they presented battle to the Elizabethan forces that were pursuing them under the command of Baldomero Espartero, being defeated, all discipline in the Carlist troops was undone and each battalion fled separately towards the Basque-Navarrean territory.
On February 26, 1918, Huerta de Rey suffered a fire that affected a large part of the town: 300 houses burned and 250 families were left in misery.
On January 6, 2012, the town became more famous nationally for having won, among its neighbors, almost the entire jackpot of the Niño lottery.
Demography
It has a population of 894 inhabitants (INE 2022).
| Graphic of demographic evolution of Huerta del Rey between 1842 and 2021 |
 |
Population of law according to population censuses of the INE.Population in fact according to population censuses of the INE.In 1978 the term of the municipality grows because it incorporates Hinojar del Rey, Peñalba de Castro and Quintanarraya. |
- Population distribution
The population entities that make up the municipality of Huerta de Rey are the following:
| Population Entity | Coordinates | Pob. (2022) | Map | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| King's Garden | 41°50′21′N 3°20′49′′O / 41.83917, -3.34694 | 642 |
| |
| Quintanarraya | 41°47′12′N 3°20′18′ / 41.78667, -3.33833 | 135 | ||
| Daughter of the King | 41°46′04′′N 3°19′46′′O / 41.76778, -3.32944 | 51 | ||
| Peñalba de Castro | 41°47′18′N 3°22′ / 41.78833, -3.36722 | 66 | ||
| Seminates | 2 | |||
| Total | 894 | |||
| Source: INE, 2022 and Google Earth | ||||
Culture
Heritage
Urban center and popular half-timbered architecture, baroque church, bullring and several hermitages: Arandilla, Los Remedios and San Roque.
The Bull
In 1992 the inhabitants of Huerta de Rey placed a reproduction of the Osborne Bull on the Zarrazuela mountain. This bull can be seen from much of the town. In 2010 the wind knocked the bull sign to the ground. In September 2011, before the patron saint festivities of the Virgen del Rosario, the City Council once again placed an Osborne bull as a symbol of the bullfighting tradition of Huerta de Rey and as a tribute to the great love of this town for bulls.
Weird names
It is registered in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the town whose inhabitants have the strangest names in the world, such as Evilasio, Gláfida, Filadelfo, Walfrido, Hierónides, Filogonio, Sindulfo, Burgundófora, Firmo, Aniceto, Marciana, Alpidia, Ercilio,...
We must go back to the end of the 19th century. At that time many people had similar names, which caused problems with mail delivery. For this reason, a secretary of the town hall thought of using the Roman martyrology and the neighbors took it as a good solution, so they began to baptize their children with names from the martyrology. On August 9, 2008, an International Meeting of Rare Names was held in the town.
In 2011, the drink Aquarius filmed an advertisement in the town about the strange names of its inhabitants.
Publications
He has a magazine called 'El Zarabi' which is published quarterly.
Parties and events
- Mars
- Feast of the Virgin of Arandilla. It is celebrated at Pentecost.
- International Meeting ‘With a Proper Name’ (is held in August since 2008).
- Feasts of the Virgin of the Rosary. The first weekend of October is celebrated.
- San Pelayo, patron of the town, June 26.
- The Cid passed through Huerta on July 25. Since 2014, a representation of the Cid pass by the population has been held.
Sports
- Guidance
The Raid Huerta de Rey has been held for several years in August, an adventure and orientation raid on mountain bikes and on foot.
- Via ferrata
Recently inaugurated via ferrata, right at km 42, level 2 until the climb to the scale which is level 3. Tibetan bridge and five climbing routes on the way up to Llano.
Personalities
Twinnings
The town of Huerta de Rey participates in the city twinning initiative promoted, among other institutions, by the European Union. Based on this initiative, ties have been established with the following locations:
| Country | Locality | ||
|---|---|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} | France | .svg){kind=small} | Pleine-Fougères |
 | Poland |  | Stęszew |