Ancient age from Nertóbriga (4th century,
Archaeological Museum of Badajoz) Archaeological sites within the current municipal boundaries of Fregenal de la Sierra date back to the
Chalcolithic. Among the
menhirs of the
Ardila River basin, which forms a natural border with the municipality of
Valencia del Ventoso, notable examples include La Pepina, La Palanca del Moro, and Los Tres Términos. All were declared
Assets of Cultural Interest in March 2020. The origins of the settlement of Fregenal de la Sierra are linked to the vicinity of the current urban center, where the ruins of the Celtic
castrum of
Nertobriga or
Nerkobrika are located, currently under ongoing excavation and research. Founded during the Second Iron Age, it was part of the
Baeturia Céltica and is considered the capital of the Celtic Baeturics. The primary historical reference to
Nerkobrika is provided by
Polybius, who describes its conquest by assault in 152 BC by the praetor Marcus. Following the Roman conquest, the Celtic
oppidum was replaced by a Roman city, named
Nertobriga Concordia Iulia. Its foundation, likely as a
foederata, dates back to the 2nd century BC. Later, at the end of the 1st century BC, it was granted the status of
municipium, a
deductio shared with most Celtic cities of the
Baeturia and the southwestern Iberian Peninsula. The city was part of the
Hispania Ulterior province during the first two centuries BC and was later administratively integrated into the
Baetica, where it remained for over seven centuries until the beginning of the Andalusian period. Its strategic importance was also tied to the establishment of an episcopal see in the city with the spread of Christianity. According to tradition, Saint Theopompus and
Saint Eutropius were bishops of Nertóbriga. Theopompus was one of the first bishops to occupy the episcopal see of Nertóbriga during the 3rd century. He was martyred under the reign of
Diocletian, with Dacian as governor, being beheaded after baptizing the magician Theonas as Synesius. The
Roman Martyrology states that the saint's martyrdom occurred in the Nertóbriga of the Tarraconensis: "thus God chose to honor both Roman Nertóbrigas, Fregenal having an illustrious Prelate and Almuña or Ricla of Aragon as the place of his martyrdom." Eutropius held the see of Nertóbriga in the 5th century, his tenure marked by his strong opposition to the heresy of the Aviti. To resolve his doubts about the Aviti, he corresponded with
Augustine of Hippo and
Saint Jerome, who supported his thesis of heresy, leading to the condemnation of the monks practicing it. His death is dated 17 February 420. shed light on the possible Visigothic past of the site. The discovery of remains that may have been a Visigothic watchtower, as well as a significant Muslim necropolis, leads researchers to assert that the site was forcibly taken with the arrival of the new religion. The only references made by Christians to this city are to the name Castillo de Valera, which was donated by
Alfonso X to the
Knights Templar. Equally noteworthy are the Visigothic remains of the Monastery of San Miguel de los Fresnos, located east of Fregenal. The construction of its apse, clearly of Visigothic tradition, indicates the site's antiquity. Tradition holds that the monastery was founded by the saints Honorius and Exuperantius, who healed the sick with water from a nearby spring. Specifically, Saint Exuperantius was a Benedictine monk of Italian origin, born around 490. At the request of Sanctina, wife of the Ostrogothic king
Theodoric, he was sent to found monasteries in Spain with companions Euiemio, Venancio, and Adelfio. He first stayed in Pamplona and later moved to the Baetica, specifically to Nertóbriga, around 572, as stated by Marco Máximo in 612. His veneration is based on his evangelizing work in Spain during the 6th century, particularly the founding of this monastery alongside his disciple Honorius. His death is dated 26 May 578. The nave with pointed arches dates to the 14th and 15th centuries, and the walls and pointed arch serving as the entrance remain. Due to its high historical and architectural value, the hermitage has been included in the Inventory of Historical and Cultural Heritage of Extremadura. Regarding this point, there is a conflict in historical sources, with some asserting that Fregenal was one of the main castles in the defensive line of Seville's northern sierra, while others claim the castle did not exist until its construction by the
Templars. The lordship of Fregenal under Troncones lasted from 1309 to 1312, when Fregenal was reintegrated into the
Kingdom of Seville after the fortress was taken by troops sent by the Seville Council. Except for brief periods in the 16th century, the town remained primarily under the authority of the Guadalquivir capital. Various military conflicts unfolded throughout the 15th century, directly affecting Fregenal and its population, particularly the noble revolts against the ascension of
Isabella the Catholic. Its strategic position near the border with the neighboring
Kingdom of Portugal placed it in the sights of both Portuguese and Castilians. The
Catholic Monarchs recognized its privileged location, making the fortress a key center for military organization against Portugal. On one occasion, this led King
Ferdinand II of Aragon to travel to Fregenal to lead the campaign alongside the master of the
Order of Santiago,
Alonso de Cárdenas. Similarly, the stay of the Catholic Monarchs' eldest daughter,
Infanta Isabella of Aragon, at the Fregenal castle during the Easter of 1480 to 1481 is noteworthy, The tripartite jurisdictional situation in Fregenal was peculiar, as it spiritually belonged to the
Diocese of Badajoz, while also being an
encomienda of the
Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, which inherited some of the
Templars' assets after their dissolution. Thus, it was spiritually tied to Badajoz, fiscally to the Order of Saint John, and temporally to the Seville Council. Fregenal's contribution to the conquest and colonization of the Americas was numerically significant, with 105 individuals departing for the Indies, according to Navarro del Castillo. Among the most notable are Alonso Rodríguez Santos and Benito Arias Montano. Rodríguez Santos served as mayor of Fregenal for the noble estate and was married to María Martínez, sister of the Frexnense humanist
Benito Arias Montano. From this marriage were born their sons Juan and Benito, with whom he traveled to
Venezuela in 1592 after the death of their mother. He solidified his position in
Caracas through his second marriage in 1607 to Melchora de Vera e Ibargoyen, daughter of a prominent local family. From this second marriage descended the lineage of
Simón Bolívar, considered the national liberator. In Caracas, Rodríguez Santos alternated his role as a prominent merchant with various positions in the city council, including chief constable in 1594, general procurator in 1603, and ordinary mayor in 1609, 1612, 1616, 1620, and 1623. He also assumed the role of governor in Venezuelan territory after the death of Tribiño Billames until the arrival of a new governor. Benito Arias Montano, son of the former and nephew of the humanist of the same name, was also born in Fregenal in 1588. His father's position in Caracas enabled him to build a military career in the navy, rising to captain and holding various posts on the Venezuelan coast defending the
Araya fortress, and in the Caribbean islands combating piracy and expelling the Dutch from
Tortuga and
Saint Martin, who were stealing salt from the Unare salt flats. In 1631, Arias Montano was appointed governor of the eastern region of present-day Venezuela, called
New Andalusia. From this position, he promoted the founding of the city of
San Baltasar de los Arias, now known as
Cumanacoa, to serve as a link between
Cumaná and the mission towns emerging in the southeastern region where Spanish missionaries were arriving. (1568–1572), edited by
Benito Arias Montano In the mid-16th century, the spread of
Humanism across Europe was largely supported by the religious community of the time. The education available to priests and prelates equipped them with advanced knowledge of Latin, enabling them not only to read the Holy Scriptures but also to study classical sources. This is exemplified by the legacy of the Priestly Brotherhood of Saint Peter, which gathered around sixty clerics settled in the town. At this time, Fregenal had three active parishes, as well as the seat of the ecclesiastical vicariate, which extended its jurisdiction to the towns of Bodonal, Higuera, and Valencia del Ventoso. This educated elite was a key component of Frexnense society for the spread of Humanism in the town, with the clergy of New Christian origin playing a significant role. As in the nearby
Zafra,
Llerena, or
Segura de León, former important Jewish quarters of Lower Extremadura, much of the region's educated clergy came from first- or second-generation New Christian families. In this climate of expanding classical knowledge, several prominent figures in Fregenal's history emerged, led by the humanist
Benito Arias Montano. The first generation of Frexnense humanists was particularly marked by their New Christian status, as seen in the cases of Vasco Díaz Tanco and Francisco Arceo. Vasco Díaz Tanco was a soldier, priest, poet, theologian, playwright, actor, and writer. The
Catálogo of Barrera notes that he authored three tragedies, three comedies, three satires, twenty-four plays, and three colloquies, as well as several epistles, with
Jardín del alma cristiana being one of his most renowned works of the time. In his life, he traveled across much of Europe and North Africa, fleeing to Portugal in 1524 pursued by the authorities and captured by French corsairs. After being freed, he moved to Valencia and Catalonia. By 1526, he was linked to the Court and attended the wedding of
Charles V in Seville. He also witnessed the sack of
Rome and was present at the emperor's coronation in
Bologna. Upon his return, he settled in
Valencia, where he began a career as a printer. In his final years, he moved to Galicia, establishing his press in Orense, balancing roles as editor and writer. Francisco Arceo, born in Fregenal in 1493, was a physician and writer. He studied medicine at the
University of Alcalá and worked for several years in the hospitals of the
Monastery of Guadalupe, gaining extraordinary fame as a surgeon. Six years before his death, he published
De recta curandorum vulnerum ratione (1574), printed in Antwerp by
Christophe Plantin through the intervention of Benito Arias Montano. The book achieved widespread circulation across Europe, reprinted in Latin and translated into English, French, German, and Dutch. In the former Ruda Street of the old town of Frexenal,
Benito Arias Montano was born in 1527. A plaque at his birthplace today honors the "Most Wise" son of Fregenal, the most illustrious among the Frexnenses. Although his time in the town was somewhat circumstantial, as he later lived in his beloved
Seville, the capital of the
kingdom in which Fregenal was located, his roots in a family of New Christians, the Arias, and his birthplace earned him the nickname Montano, by which he is globally known. He began his studies at the
University of Seville, where he developed an interest in physical and medical sciences, and especially in
poetry,
philosophy,
linguistics, and
theology. He later moved to the
University of Alcalá, where he expanded his knowledge in
medicine,
theology,
philosophy,
classical languages (
Latin and
Greek), and
Semitic languages (
Arabic,
Hebrew, and
Syriac). After being ordained a priest, he retired to the nearby mountain town of
Alájar. His proximity to
Martín Pérez de Ayala, his professor at Alcalá and Bishop of Segovia, allowed him to travel in 1562 to the Spanish territories in
Flanders to participate in the
Council of Trent, where he delivered speeches on divorce and communion under both species. Upon returning to Spain, his monarch
Philip II appointed him chaplain in 1566, also entrusting him with his magnum opus, the
Plantin Polyglot, printed by
Christophe Plantin. This monumental work marked a turning point in his thinking, particularly his perspective on Spanish policy in Flanders, as it was a project prepared by a group of Flemish and French intellectuals, mostly associated with the
Familia Caritatis, founded around 1540 by the German mystic Hendrik Nicholis or Niclaes. The innovations introduced compared to the
Complutensian Polyglot Bible and, more significantly, the
Vulgate, raised suspicions from the
Inquisition and were denounced by León de Castro, though the work was ultimately published in
Antwerp in 1572. The compilation included the sacred text in
Hebrew,
Greek,
Aramaic, and
Latin. Back in Spain, he was tasked with cataloging the works of the newly established
Library of the Royal Monastery of El Escorial, one of the largest in Christendom and the most significant in the world for collecting Arabic texts. He maintained his relationship with Christophe Plantin, collaborating on further projects. After several years, he retired to Seville, where he died in 1598. Among his works are
Rethoricorum libri IV (1569),
Comentaria in duodecim Prophetas (1571),
Humanae Salutis Monumenta (1571),
Virorum doctorum de disciplinis benemeritis efigies XLIV (1572),
Davidis Regis ac Prophetae aliorumque sacrorum vatum Psalmi ex hebraica veritate in latinum carmen (1573),
Elucidationes in IV Evangelia quibus accedunt erlucidationes in Acta Apostolorum (1575),
De Varia Republica sive commentarium in librum Judicum (1592), and
Davidis Psalmos priores comentaria (1605), most of which were printed by the press of Christophe Plantin, a prominent member of the aforementioned "Family of Love." Within what now constitutes the municipal boundaries of Fregenal was the old town of Valera, birthplace of the religious, philologist, and humanist
Cipriano de Valera. He was a professor in
London,
Oxford, and
Cambridge, and reviser of the translation of the first complete
Spanish Bible, translated by his compatriot from
Montemolín,
Casiodoro de Reina, and published in
Basel in 1569. Both monks, who professed at the
Monastery of San Isidoro del Campo in
Santiponce,
Seville, found refuge in Europe, as the
Inquisition sought to arrest them for their ideas aligned with the
Reformation. He is noted for being a disciple of
John Calvin, translating the first Spanish edition of
Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1597. The
reformists believed that every believer should have access to the sacred text, not just clerics versed in
classical languages. Hence, they undertook the meticulous task of translation and revision. Today, the version of the Bible known as the
Reina-Valera or
Bear Bible, with subsequent revisions, remains in use in all Hispanic Protestant communities worldwide. Finally, the youngest of the Frexnense humanists was
Cristóbal de Mesa, born in the town on 15 October 1556. He was a
Spanish Golden Age poet associated with Mannerism. Although traditionally considered a native of Zafra, recent research has clarified his birth in Fregenal de la Sierra in 1556. Also of New Christian origins, he studied in
Salamanca, where he was taught by the renowned humanist
Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas, "el Brocense," a commentator on the works of
Juan de Mena and
Garcilaso de la Vega. Later, he resided in
Seville, where he formed a relationship with the poet
Fernando de Herrera. He then moved to
Italy in 1586, establishing a close friendship with
Torquato Tasso for five years. His friendship with
Miguel de Cervantes, whose classical aesthetic ideas about theater he shared, is also well-known. Among his works are
Las Navas de Tolosa (1594),
La restauración de España (1607),
El patrono de España (1612),
Valle de lágrimas y diversas rimas (1607), as well as the tragedies
El Pelayo and
El Pompeyo. During the 16th century, Fregenal rose to prominence due to numerous "industries" dedicated to pottery, iron, and especially leather, gaining renown in the latter for many years. It also enjoyed flourishing trade. The importance of the nobility in the town enhanced its status compared to others, giving it prominence within the Kingdom of Seville as the last of the great strongholds of the Sevillians in the northern sierra. From this period dates the founding of the Convent of San Francisco in 1563 by the Franciscan friars of the Province of San Miguel, after a brief dispute with the Franciscan friars of the Province of San Gabriel, with two distinct communities in the hermitages of San Antón and the Santos Mártires. Ultimately, the community settled in the latter hermitage remained in the town until the
confiscation of 1835. The population grew under this economic prosperity, reaching nearly 8,000 inhabitants. The Frexnense heritage continued to expand, driven by the prominent families settling in the city. The most significant case is that of Alonso de Paz, a noble merchant who invested his fortune in founding the Convent and College of the Society of Jesus for studies in grammar, philosophy, and theology, as well as the Convent of Our Lady of Peace, occupied since its founding in 1606 by the
Augustinian Mothers. However, the crisis affecting the entire Peninsula was not foreign to Fregenal, and throughout the 16th century, numerous conflicts forced around 500 Frexnenses to abandon the area in search of a better life across the Empire. This explains why many of Fregenal's illustrious figures were born during this period. This includes
Juan Serrano, a 16th-century navigator who, in the service of
Charles I, was part of the
expedition of
Ferdinand Magellan to the
Spice Islands as one of its captains; Francisco Gómez Cid, governor and captain of
Puerto Rico; Friar Juan Franco, Dominican and bishop of
Manila; Friar Benito Hermoso, bishop of the
West Indies; Friar Pablo Jerónimo Casquete, founder of the Capuchin convent in Seville, whose notable evangelizing work was primarily conducted in the former colonial territories of Guinea and
Sierra Leone; Friar Francisco de Fregenal, reformer of the Order in Rome and Naples and vicar, commissary, and provincial in Spain; or Father Manuel Solórzano Escobar, a
Jesuit missionary and martyr in the
Mariana Islands, specifically on the island of
Guam, where he is currently venerated. Likewise, other Frexnenses held significant positions within the Iberian Peninsula, such as García Bazán, a licensed lawyer, general commissary, and superintendent of royal revenues of the province, member of the
Council of Castile, judge, and prosecutor in
Valladolid; Alonso Tinoco de Castilla, judge of the Court of Seville and the
Canary Islands; Joaquín Cid Carrascal, abbot of the
Collegiate Church of San Salvador in
Seville; or Antonio María Sánchez Cid Carrascal, bishop of
Coria. The migratory and subsistence process was exacerbated by the war of 1640, which, for nearly thirty years, highlighted the development achieved by the city. Numerous human and economic losses plunged Fregenal into deep decline. The 17th century saw the slow progress of a population that had once been prominent but, by the mid-century, barely reached around 2,500 inhabitants. This was compounded in the 18th century by the expulsion of the
Jesuits from the kingdom through the
Pragmatic Sanction of 1767. This event was significant for the population, as all Jesuit communities in the Badajoz diocese were brought to Fregenal, from where they were led in harsh conditions to exile by sea.
Contemporary age 19th century in 1864, featuring Fregenal In the 19th century, as a reaffirmation of its misfortunes, the French occupation of the Castle occurred during the
War of Independence. Once again, the town was embroiled in a conflict against Napoleonic invaders, with tragic confrontations. A new territorial model was established in 1833, prioritizing provinces over the old kingdoms. These
reforms, carried out by the
Secretary of State for
Development,
Javier de Burgos, saw Fregenal, which had been part of the
Kingdom of Seville alongside
Bodonal and
Higuera for over five centuries, Contemporary to the figure of Juan Bravo Murillo, Ventura Camacho Carbajo, born in 1819, stands out as a notable figure. He served as director of the
Seville University Library from 1848 and as a professor at the Faculty of Law of the same university from 1855. He was a founder and distinguished member of the Sevillian Academy of Jurisprudence and Legislation. In 1853, he established
La Ley: revista de legislación, jurisprudencia, administración y notariado and directed the Carlist newspaper
El Oriente, published in
Seville between 1869 and 1873. He is credited with authoring the novena dedicated to Our Lady Saint Mary of the Remedies, patroness of Fregenal. Following the fall of the
Ancien Régime, the locality became a
constitutional municipality in the region of Extremadura. After the territorial reforms following the establishment of Queen Isabella II's reign, a new jurisdictional distribution was configured, shaping the new map of judicial districts. Thus, in 1834, the Fregenal de la Sierra judicial district was established, with its seat in the city of Fregenal, overseeing the localities of
Bodonal de la Sierra,
Higuera la Real,
Segura de León,
Fuentes de León,
Cabeza la Vaca, and
Valverde de Burguillos. In the 1842 census, Fregenal had 1,260 households and 4,620 inhabitants. With the new
Constitution of 1845, new legislation was promoted regarding the Spanish electoral system, dividing constituencies into
single-member electoral districts. This reform was implemented through the Electoral Law for the Appointment of Deputies to the Courts of 18 March 1846. Through this law, it was established that one of the ten districts into which the Badajoz constituency was divided would be based in Fregenal. The first deputy to the Congress elected for the Fregenal district, in the 1847 general elections, was
Juan Bravo Murillo. The Fregenal district continued to have representation in the Congress of Deputies until the electoral reform of 1931, during the
Second Spanish Republic, which abolished single-member districts in favor of provincial constituencies. On 5 February 1873,
Amadeo I of Spain granted Fregenal the honorary title of city, at the proposal of the
Minister of the Interior,
Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla, in agreement with the
Council of Ministers. with which the first long-distance telephone call in Spain was made in 1880 by Rodrigo Sánchez-Arjona y Sánchez-Arjona In 1880, Fregenal marked a milestone in Spain's technological advancement. This achievement was led by another illustrious son of the city, Rodrigo Sánchez-Arjona y Sánchez-Arjona. Coming from one of the city's most prominent families, which still has branches in the town today, Sánchez-Arjona was a doctor of
law and a member of the Royal Cavalry Order of Seville. His comfortable financial situation allowed him to travel the world. His visit to the
Paris Universal Exposition of 1878 was of great importance for Fregenal. There, he discovered a new device that enabled communication between geographically distant individuals. Using his contacts, he acquired two
telephones of the Gower-Bell model for personal use. These devices were installed at his home on Santa Clara Street and at the Las Mimbres estate, owned by his family. After obtaining the necessary permits, Sánchez-Arjona established a telephone line connecting these two locations, spanning 32 kilometers. This process began after the Fregenal Town Council approved the installation of a telegraph line connecting to Zafra in February 1880. On 19 March 1880, the first call was made between the two locations. This communication is widely regarded as the first made in rural Spain; Subsequently, contact was established with
Seville on 27 December of the same year and with
Cádiz on 28 December, breaking the world record previously held by the Americans. In later years, Rodrigo Sánchez-Arjona proposed creating a telephone line connecting all the localities in the Fregenal region. This line was promoted by the mayors of the judicial district and aimed to connect the district's main town with the rest of the localities. The lack of support from the central Spanish government, combined with the financial insufficiency of the Fregenal town council, which was already led by Sánchez-Arjona as mayor in 1881, thwarted this initiative, which would not materialize until 1912 through the National Interurban Telephone Company. of Extremaduran painting, to which he contributed his particular penchant for portraying a notable gallery of popular types (in small and medium formats) as well as producing a continuous series of large compositions inspired by his hometown, endorsed in many cases by numerous national and international awards and recognitions. Notable among these are his promising
Muchacha haciendo media (Third Medal at the National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1904),
Hijas del terruño (First Prize at the Fine Arts Circle Exhibition the following year),
La Juma, la Rifa y sus amigas (Second Medal at the National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1906 and the International Exhibition of Barcelona in 1907),
Rosa (Second Medal at the National Fine Arts Exhibitions of 1908),
A la fiesta del pueblo (First Medal at the National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1917), several nudes, among which
El baño de las zagalas (1923) stands out, sent to the National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1924, and, finally, the coveted Medal of Honor at the National Fine Arts Exhibition of 1948 for his works
Altar and
Las siembras. In his sculptural work, he created, among others, the bronze bust of Benito Arias Montano (1927), "donated to Fregenal" on the occasion of the fourth centenary of the humanist's birth, along with some documented self-portraits, one of which crowns the artist's tomb in the municipal cemetery. He was also the author of a voluminous autobiography titled
Vida de Eugenio Hermoso (Francisco Teodoro de Nertóbriga (1955). Madrid: Ediciones Castilla), from which numerous details about the painter and the national artistic world of the first half of the 20th century can be extracted. He was a member of the
Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando and the Santa Isabel de Hungría Academy in Seville, as well as an honorary member of the
Fine Arts Circle of Madrid. Today, the bulk of his work is preserved in a House-Museum located in Fregenal, in addition to private collections and Spanish and foreign museums. Upon his death in Madrid in 1963, his remains were transferred to Fregenal, where they rest in a tomb crowned by a bust he created himself. He is considered one of the most important Spanish painters of the 20th century, as well as one of the most significant figures in the plastic arts in
Extremadura, with a notable presence in the Museums of Fine Arts of Cáceres and Badajoz. Rafael Gómez Catón was another notable painter who was born in Fregenal on November 14, 1890. Although his work primarily focused on landscape painting, in his early years he produced a series of portraits inspired by the style of Eugenio Hermoso, from whom he took drawing lessons in the summer of 1902. Some still lifes, full of light and executed with a more perfectionist and detailed technique, are also preserved. Among the artist's numerous works, notable pieces include
El acueducto (1910),
Cuenca (c. 1918),
La del Pico de la Noria or
Conce (1924),
Paisaje de Fregenal (1939), and
Chocolatero (1953). The
railway arrived in Fregenal with the inauguration of the
Zafra-Huelva line in 1889, closely linked to the significant mining operations in the Huelva mountains. The town's railway station, which has remained largely unchanged since its opening, was opened to the public on 1 January 1889, following the completion of the section connecting Zafra with Valdelamusa. The railway became a cornerstone for Fregenal's communications with the rest of the national geography, providing sufficient infrastructure to establish it as a distribution point for mining products from nearby towns, such as
Cala or
Jerez de los Caballeros. Similarly, the train provided an important means of transport for the population, which made extensive use of it throughout much of the 20th century. The presence of this transport in Fregenal's current life is minimal. Although a medium-distance line connecting the cities of Huelva and Madrid passes through the town, enabling connections with other cities in Extremadura, the lack of trains is evident, and the line has become largely obsolete despite renovations carried out in 2010. This once-critical means of transport has been practically relegated to oblivion due to the scarcity of trains, passengers, and the will to improve the line.
20th century In 1906, one of the most significant events in Fregenal's history took place. Coinciding with the fourth centenary of the proclamation of Our Lady Saint Mary of the Remedies as the Patroness of Fregenal, her
canonical coronation was promoted. The devotion to the Patroness, with over four centuries of history and great importance throughout the
Diocese of Badajoz, garnered support from the highest ecclesiastical authorities. From there, the request was elevated to the
Holy See in
Rome. The entire Badajoz clergy, led by Félix Soto Mancera, Bishop of Badajoz, supported the effort to obtain Rome's approval. Ultimately, the grace was granted to the Holy Image, which was crowned in the Constitution Promenade on 27 April 1906. This event attracted attention from the entire region and high national authorities. The Virgin of the Remedies was the first image crowned in
Extremadura. Moreover, the ceremonies were presided over by the King of Spain,
Alfonso XIII, represented in the Extremaduran city by the Marquis of Riocabado. The coronation ceremony was performed by the Bishop of the Diocese of Badajoz, Félix Soto Mancera. Some sources note that the ceremony was witnessed by tens of thousands of people who filled the town's main square. This event held special significance in a traditionally Christian city with deep devotion to its Patroness. Additionally, actions were promoted to aid the city's poor, who received alms in accordance with the Catholic principle of charity. The honors bestowed upon the Patroness were significant, with the Virgin wearing the arms of Fregenal represented on her mantle and the jewel crowning the image, which contains the symbols of Fregenal. At the beginning of the century, two artists of international renown were born in Fregenal. Manuel Infante, also known as el Niño de Fregenal, was born in 1911 on Jabugo Street. His frail appearance belied his singing, described as "solid, complete, and with a broad repertoire." In the same year, the sculptor José Barragán Rodríguez was born. After studying Sculpture and Drawing at the
San Fernando School of Fine Arts in 1952, he moved to Colombia, specifically to
Medellín, where he produced most of his work. In 2012, the artist's family donated a series of his works to the Town Council, including the bronze bust of
Juan Bravo Murillo, installed at Pilar Redondo in 1973 to mark the first centenary of the politician and jurist's death. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Fregenal reached its peak population, exceeding 10,000 inhabitants. This figure made it one of the main cities in the south of the
Province of Badajoz, on par with the region's most significant towns. Most of the population was primarily engaged in agricultural tasks, which remain the most important activity in the locality. This contributed to the establishment of new
socialist ideologies in the town, supported by the working conditions of the majority of people employed in the fields. Land ownership, as in the rest of southern Spain, was predominantly
latifundist; workers were characterized as
day laborers, meaning individuals who worked during daylight hours in exchange for a daily wage. 1936 in Fregenal The founding of the first socialist group in Fregenal dates back to 23 April 1919. The Luz y Vida group, inspired by socialist and Masonic principles, joined the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in October of the same year. The newspaper
El Socialista reported that 182 members joined the group, beginning to participate in Fregenal's politics. As a result, in the 1920 elections, four socialist councilors were elected out of nine candidates. Among them, José María Luna Chamorro stood out, elected as the first deputy mayor and temporarily serving as Fregenal's first socialist mayor. The proclamation of the
Spanish Republic in Fregenal took place on 16 April 1931, during a plenary session of the Town Council following the democratic elections of 14 April. The mayor elected in this session was Pedro López Navarrete, who led the monarchy's supporters. However, during the council's constitutive session, a Management Commission was established due to the proclamation of the Spanish Republic at the behest of the civil governor of the Province of Badajoz, chaired by Manuel Sánchez Romasanta of the
Radical Republican Party. The commission managed the municipality until the elections on 31 May 1931, which favored the republicans. Thus, the first democratic Town Council was established on 5 June in an extraordinary session, during which Manuel Sánchez Romasanta, a radical republican, was elected. With the arrival of the
Second Spanish Republic in Spain, Fregenal became a significant political and population hub in southern
Extremadura. This led to visits by three ministers in 1931. The strengthening of leftist ideas established a solid foundation in favor of the new Republic in the town, largely supported by the presence of agricultural workers. The agrarian reform became the center of political debate in Fregenal. Likewise, the republican government established a new secondary and vocational education institute on Santa Clara Street, the precursor to the current Eugenio Hermoso secondary and baccalaureate institute. Previously, in February 1936, a management commission chaired by Victoriano Cordero González, president of the
Casa del Pueblo, was appointed by the civil governor of Badajoz to prepare for the municipal elections scheduled for April of that year. On 15 April 1936, Victoriano Cordero González was elected mayor, the last democratic mayor of Fregenal, remaining in office until 18 September 1936, when the city was occupied by rebel troops. Due to the late date when Fregenal was taken by the rebel troops against the Spanish Republic, the city accumulated people fleeing from the Huelva mountains and various areas of the Province of Badajoz already captured by the rebel army. The first wave of refugees from the Province of Huelva fled the troops sent after
the capture of Badajoz on 14 August, arriving from Huelva towns such as
Zalamea la Real,
Nerva, or
Riotinto. The miners' columns aimed to reach republican territory to travel to
Madrid and aid in the capital's defense. The Espartaco column, composed of well-equipped miners, stood out. These columns stopped in late August and early September in towns such as Fregenal de la Sierra and
Valencia del Ventoso, where they mainly gathered food supplies. As the columns passed, many Extremadurans joined them in an attempt to escape. With the capture of towns south of Badajoz, such as
Santa Marta,
Feria,
Almendral,
Barcarrota, and
Villanueva del Fresno, the mass of people fleeing the rebels accumulated in
Jerez de los Caballeros and Fregenal de la Sierra. Sheltering so many people became a challenge. The capture of
Segura de León and
Burguillos del Cerro on 14 September exacerbated this situation. From Segura de León alone, 500 people had fled. In total, around 8,000 refugees fleeing the rebels gathered in Fregenal. Faced with the imminent capture of Fregenal, the refugees near the town, mostly at its railway station, decided to depart on 15 September in search of republican positions. The chosen route crossed the
Vía de la Plata at
Fuente de Cantos, heading toward
Azuaga. To avoid detection by rebel troops, they used livestock trails connecting Fregenal and Segura, through the so-called old Fregenal road, and then entered the Cañada Real Leonesa Occidental, heading toward Fuente de Cantos. Crossing the Vía de la Plata was a highly dangerous moment. At this point, the column departed from the Cañada Real and traveled across the countryside toward the road. They crossed at night to avoid skirmishes. After crossing the Vía de la Plata, the column entered the Senda, a well-known path crossing the municipalities of
Montemolín,
Puebla del Maestre, and
Llerena from west to east. The advance of the Column of the Eight Thousand was known to the nationalist commanders in
Seville, led by
Queipo de Llano, who, with the help of informants and a reconnaissance plane, monitored the column's movements. In the afternoon of 17 September, the column left the Senda and entered the Cañada Real del Pencón. The
Mérida-Los Rosales railway line marked the border between republican and rebel-controlled territory. The rebel troops attacked the column on 18 September at the Alcornocosa hill, near the Cañada Real del Pencón, close to the towns of
Reina and
Fuente del Arco, beside the railway line. The unexpected attack resulted, according to official figures, in 80 deaths and 30 injuries, though some sources suggest a higher death toll. In the confusion of the attack and the night, some militiamen advancing with the column were killed by their own comrades to prevent their escape. Despite the attack, a steady stream of people managed to cross and reach
Valverde de Llerena and
Azuaga that night and in the following days. The stragglers also managed to escape the skirmish. The attack was reported in the media, including radio broadcasts in Seville,
ABC de Sevilla, and the front page of Diario HOY on 19 September. The rebel army took 1,200 prisoners, who were taken to
Llerena and executed according to the criteria of that side. Once Fregenal was taken by the rebel troops on 18 September 1936, they appointed Manuel Guridi Jáuregui as mayor, who held the position until Manuel González Bermudo was designated on 6 March 1937. The potter Rafael Ortega Porras, born in 1938, was one of Spain's most renowned ceramists during his peak, awarded the Second Prize at the Madrid Nativity Scene Contest (1968), the Gold Medal from the
Ministry of Housing (1972), the National Craftsmanship Award (1982), the Second National Ceramics Award (1988), the Extremadura Medal granted under Decree 99/1998 of 28 July for his “love for his land and the pride with which he carries his Extremaduran identity around the world, along with his extensive artistic career,” and Favorite Son of Fregenal de la Sierra (2000), among others. Lastly, the painter Manuel Parralo Dorado, born in 1945, should be noted. An emeritus professor, he served as Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at the
Complutense University of Madrid, received the Medal of Honor from the same university, was a corresponding member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Santa Isabel de Hungría in Seville, and received the Cross of Alfonso X the Wise. Among his main contributions to Fregenal society is his prolific involvement in the Eugenio Hermoso International Painting Award, serving as the jury president of the pictorial contest. During the democratic era, Fregenal fought for its rights in the early years when the
Government of Spain sought to revive the city's economy with the help of the railway network passing through it. In this context, the Fregenal region was declared a Zone of Urgent Industrialization within Spain's industrial reconversion process. The main project for the reconversion of Fregenal's economy was Prerreducidos Integrados del Suroeste, better known by its acronym Presur. The Presur plant was a promise from the
UCD government, enabling the continued operation of the Cala mines and promoting the region's mining sector through a strong commitment to transforming raw materials into industrial derivatives. In addition to producing pellets, the plant's main original task, it included a robust research project. The plant dedicated space to studying natural resources and ornamental rocks, granite, and marble, as well as processing ferroalloys to produce nickel-chromium ingots, a demonstration plant for ferroalloy processing, and the most notable project, plasma research for studying new materials, the only one of its kind in Spain at the time. The opening of Presur was a major political event throughout Extremadura. It involved the participation of the main leaders of the
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), who promoted the plant's opening. Among those events, the visit of
Felipe González to the Cala mines while he was still the opposition leader to the government of
Adolfo Suárez stands out. Regarding events in Fregenal, the massive demonstration on 25 April 1982, which gathered between 40,000 and 50,000 people around the Constitution Promenade, where the Extremadura Regional Government was holding a permanent assembly, demanded the immediate launch of a pellets plant. Although Presur opened in 1983, news of a possible radiation leak from the plant in June 1998 led to its closure. The cesium-137 leak did not affect the workers, according to the
Nuclear Safety Council report. The socialist majority in the Fregenal de la Sierra Town Council expressed opposition to the plant's closure in a plenary session on 19 June 1998, but strong opposition from the People's Party and United Left, combined with some fear among the population, led to the closure of the plant, which had been the main driver of Fregenal's industrialization in the 1980s and 1990s. The same entrepreneur founded Matadero Frexnense S.A. (MAFRESA), currently the main industry in Fregenal. Del Cid, of Leonese origin but with deep Fregenal roots, received support from the
Government of Extremadura, led by
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, and the Economy Councilor, Manuel Amigo, to establish what was Spain's leading
meat industry. A 6,000-square-meter factory in 1993 grew to 24,000 square meters by 1999, slaughtering 8,000 pigs annually at its start and reaching 60,000 by the early 21st century. A central
agroindustry for the Extremaduran economy, it employed 202 permanent workers at its peak, not counting jobs derived from the factory's activity. The company exports Fregenal products to distant countries such as Mexico, South Korea, Japan, Angola, Russia, and Brazil. On 22 October 1995, Televisión Fregenal was founded, the first audiovisual communication medium in Fregenal's history. The initiative came from a group of people from Fregenal's civil society, led by Juan Ignacio Márquez Martínez, a correspondent for
Diario de Extremadura HOY since September 1990. The first televised program was a debate among representatives of the Fregenal Town Council: Luis Moreno Gamito, mayor from the Socialist Party; José María Velasco Díaz, councilor spokesperson for the People's Party; and Fernando González Durán, councilor spokesperson for United Left. This medium has operated for over a quarter of a century, transforming into ZF Televisión. It remains the reference medium for information on Fregenal's social, political, cultural, religious, and sporting life.
21st century The new century brought a growing sentiment for the recovery of lost historical spaces in Fregenal's heritage. The 1991 declaration of the historic-artistic complex of Fregenal de la Sierra as a
Cultural Interest Asset spurred efforts to restore and consolidate the foundations of ruined monuments through public initiatives. An example is the San Francisco Convent, which underwent a meticulous restoration process from 1995 to 2011. The initial phases relied heavily on the work of the Nertóbriga Workshop Schools, which recovered the convent's lost cloister. The church was definitively restored through the efforts of the
Ministry of Housing, which enabled the completion of the project's most costly phase, initiated by the local administration a decade earlier. The restored building now houses the Space for Young Creation, the Fregenal Contemporary Art Museum, and spaces for temporary exhibitions and social events. Another restored space is the San Ildefonso Convent and College of the Society of Jesus, whose restoration began in 2019 with funding from the
Ministry of Development. Among the major events in these years were the Centenary of the Canonical Coronation of
Our Lady Saint Mary of the Remedies in 2006, coinciding with the Fifth Centenary of her proclamation as Fregenal's Patroness. The Patroness's arrival in the city became a nationally significant event, with the participation of the main state authorities, led by
King Juan Carlos I, who delegated his representation to the
President of the Government of Extremadura,
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra. In April 2010, HOY Fregenal was launched, the first digital communication medium in Fregenal, initiating the network of hyperlocal outlets for
Diario de Extremadura HOY. The medium was directed for nine years by Juan Ignacio Márquez Martínez, a correspondent for the outlet in Fregenal and director of Televisión Fregenal. It published 135 paper issues, distributed monthly to Fregenal households. In covering Fregenal's social life, Juan Ignacio Márquez authored over 4,000 articles for this digital medium, in addition to more than 3,000 articles written over 28 years as the HOY correspondent for Fregenal de la Sierra. This legacy, along with his involvement in numerous civil society initiatives, such as presiding over the Fregenal Choir, the Friends of the Rosary of Sunday of Miracles Commission, and his role as Coordinator of the Coronation Centenary Celebrations, led to Juan Ignacio Márquez being posthumously named Favorite Son of Fregenal in 2022 by the municipal corporation. Regarding Fregenal's economy, in 2010, MAFRESA's shareholding changed after Ángel del Cid sold 51% of the shares to the Jorge Group. The new management implemented improvements to the factory, maintaining and expanding its workforce to 250 employees. Production also increased significantly, reaching 142,000 pigs slaughtered in 2018 and expanding capacity to 200,000. MAFRESA remains the leading meat industry in Extremadura, with sales of 50 million euros in 2019. == Heritage ==