Alarcón Castle

Alarcón Castle was built by the Arabs in the 8th century under the Emirate of Córdoba, and remained in Muslim hands until 1184, when Alfonso VIII conquered it after a nine-month siege. Among its notable residents was Don Juan Manuel, nephew of Alfonso X, who wrote much of "El Conde Lucanor" within these walls between 1331 and 1335. The castle later passed to the Marqueses de Villena, whose coat of arms still decorates the building.

By the 18th century the fortress was in ruins — an 1712 report warned of imminent collapse — and it remained abandoned until the Spanish state rescued it in 1963, opening it as a parador three years later following a full restoration.

Today its spacious rooms sit within the stone castle, preserving original wooden beams and traditional furniture in a design that blends new and old installations.

Don Juan Manuel's documented residence here, and his authorship of one of medieval Castilian literature's foundational works within these walls, gives Alarcón a literary significance distinct from its military and aristocratic history.

The castle's near-complete ruin by the 18th century, followed by two and a half centuries of abandonment before its 1963 rescue, makes its current restored state a genuinely dramatic recovery rather than a continuously maintained building.

The castle's position above the Alarcón reservoir and the Júcar river gives guests staying here scenic views from its lookout tower.