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History of Villanueva del Trabuco

Diputación de Málaga
Fuente de los Cien Caños, Villanueva del Trabuco. Sierra Norte de Málaga

History of Villanueva del Trabuco

Though Villanueva del Trabuco is not one of the province’s older settlements, evidence exists to suggest that the area was inhabited from very early times.

The population of the present-day site dates back to the conquest, though some historians believe that a scattered settlement existed as long ago as Roman times. The earliest reference found to a place known as Trabuco dates back to the 12th of April 1620, the document in question now residing at the Archidona Municipal Archive. Said document mentions a pasture known as Trabuco which measured over 300 fanegas and lay within the municipal boundaries of Archidona.

Villanueva del Trabuco became independent from Archidona on the 10th of May 1808. The village as we know it today appeared a century later, when Carlos 3rd decided to re-populate the Andalusia with foreign colonists. So, Flemish and German Catholics were the first inhabitants of modern Trabuco.

The urban layout is typical of the region, with houses whose owners whitewash them frequently in order to keep them in the perfect condition that has seen the village awarded a number of prizes for its beauty. Villanueva del Trabuco owes its appearance to two different principles: a determination to maintain its original symmetry and a desire to innovate with original designs. In any event, a new wave of construction is creating housing estates in the surrounding areas, bringing a “spaciousness” that has led residents to describe their village as “comfortable” in spite of the fact that behind the square in which the church stands, the streets are advancing towards the mountains themselves.

Like most of the villages in the area, its economy is based on agriculture, primarily olive groves, which are cultivated on the small and medium-sized fields distributed throughout the village itself. The River Guadalhorce, the most emblematic in the province of Málaga, is said to rise here, though many point instead to Guajoz, which stands some one hundred metres inside the boundary of Loja (Granada) as its source.