Exaltation of the Lilacs, Villaviudas

I have been meaning to publish this entry for years... and this year the "stars" have aligned.

This week on the blog, I am not taking you to a distant place, but rather to a destination closer to my home. To the Palentine town of Villaviudas, where each year a fair is held around one of the most traditional flowers in the courtyards and gardens of this land, the Lilacs Syringa vulgaris. I have wanted to go for years, but it wasn't until 2026 that I was able to get closer.

But why Villaviudas? Although it is a village of 400 inhabitants in the Cerrato region of Palencia, it has a historical connection with Lilacs... since ancient times. This small municipality, like many or all populations on the peninsula, has history and artistic heritage... Among other things, there is a dehesa, known as "de Tablada," which has been used for livestock and forestry for many centuries. Over the centuries, it changed owners, eventually becoming the property of businessman and politician Manuel Ruiz Zorrilla in 1858. The place had a small palace and various facilities for the community living there to be self-sufficient. It seems that the aforementioned used this Palentine estate to isolate himself from his political activities, as a form of "retreat."

A 3 km path from Villaviudas takes us into the landscapes of Cerrato, limestone plateaus, and their valleys.

The economic power of this man (he even became the President of the Government of Spain) led him to initiate modernization on the estate (about 1000 hectares), one of the first of its kind to see the light in this country. Cutting-edge agricultural machinery was imported from England for the time in Spain (including the first steam "tractor," called a locomobile). Lands were cleared, and new varieties of selected plants and animals were introduced. All with the aim of modernizing the country and making the property more profitable, of course.

We arrive at the ruins of what was the small palace, houses, and facilities... of the dehesa de Tablada, now in ruins.

At that time, there was a palace, a hermitage, a gypsum oven, a bread oven, a winery, a press, stables, houses for caretakers and farmers... A pond with colorful fish and the Lilac walk is also mentioned.

Over time, it was acquired by what would become an agricultural society/cooperative that would exploit the farms by parceling and dividing the property, thus abandoning the homestead.

From all that, today, barely the ruins of the main buildings and the so-called Lilac walk remain. This walk receives its name due to the multitude of these shrubs that flank the path.

Lilac walk, Villaviudas

For a few years now, the Villaviudas town hall has seen the potential of this unique walk as a tourist attraction. They celebrate an annual weekend of exaltation of the Lilacs around this time. Various events take place in the village that attract a multitude of visitors; some do not go beyond the streets of the municipality. But others follow the marked route that leads them to the object of the entire event, the Lilac walk. A route through fields until reaching the small hill where the homestead, or rather its ruins, is located.

Seeing the potential, the town hall has restored a winery, located a viewpoint, and set up tables for dining. New lilacs and almond trees have been planted (as they also abound in the walk and provide visitors with another moment of interest weeks before the lilacs flood the air with their perfume). A hillside has also been reforested with various species.

Perhaps I miss more care for the lilacs; I understand that they are neither pruned nor are old or dry branches removed, and I am not very clear on how much they are watered or fertilized (it is still in the middle of the countryside, and the work in a municipality is diverse, and something always takes priority in the village itself before going to this point, which is understandable). Perhaps a drip irrigation line and pruning after flowering would give the place an outstanding touch. Although, as you can see, there were many flowers, they were not as many as there could have been. Some specimens had suffered from frost, but others had hardly any flowering... Another mission to carry out would be to eradicate the invasive patches of Ailanthus Ailanthus altissima in the area.

Views from the viewpoint surrounded by the pink flowers of Tamarix sp.

Part of the Lilac walk in Villaviudas, on the left side of the photo.

Seeing that it is a weekend with quite a public acceptance, it might not be a bad idea to include, apart from activities like the usual concerts, markets, and similar events, activities related to lilacs, perfumes, or gardening. I don’t know, from small workshops on the care and pruning of lilacs, presentation of new varieties of this shrub, competitions similar to the rose or camellia contests held in various parts of our geography, plant sales... I offer to participate if anyone is willing.

Can you imagine the Lilacs overflowing with flowers? And what if influencers who go to lavender fields started coming here and promoting the Lilac walk?

I believe this is the sixth year of the festival; congratulations to whoever had the idea, and I encourage them to improve and expand the path and related events...

See you next week!