Village
Municipality of the comarca of Sierra de Alcaraz y Campo de Montiel, in the province of Albacete, which received from Charles I the title of town in 1538 and was born of the medieval union of the hamlets of Sotuélamos, San Miguel de Susaña and Santa Catalina; its Renaissance church of Santa Catalina, a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 1992, and the parish museum bring together a Christ embracing the cross by El Greco, panels by Juan de Borgoña and a Dolorosa attributed to Salzillo. Its Holy Week, known for its bands of drums and bugles, was declared of Regional Tourist Interest in 2011.
Monument
The parish church of Santa Catalina, in El Bonillo (Albacete), is a Renaissance temple built between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) on 22 December 1992. Inside it preserves a carving of La Dolorosa attributed to the sculptor Francisco Salzillo, and brings together a collection of paintings, from the former parish museum, attributed to artists such as the circle of José de Ribera, Vicente López Portaña, Andrea Vaccaro, El Greco and Juan de Borgoña, which make the church one of the municipality's main repositories of religious artistic heritage.
Monument
A collection bringing together works from the circle of Ribera, The Magdalene by Andrea Vaccaro, The Miracle of the Christ by Vicente López Portaña and Renaissance panels by Juan de Borgoña, as well as a painting by El Greco.
Monument
16th-century pillory or jurisdictional pillar that symbolised the municipality's status as a town; it has been protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural (Spain's highest level of heritage protection) since 14 March 1963, as recorded in BOE issue number 77 of that year. Today it is also known as the Rollo de San Cristóbal. In this type of monument, prisoners were subjected to public exposure and executions were sometimes carried out, as a symbol of the town's jurisdictional power.
Monument
The Casa Consistorial of El Bonillo (Sierra de Alcaraz and Campo de Montiel, Albacete) is a 16th-century Renaissance building, recognisable by its portico of two stone arcades with unequal bays: the lower one with four arches and the upper one with eight. Inside it preserves the charter granting town status issued by Emperor Charles I.
Monument
Sotuélamos is an abandoned settlement in the municipal area of El Bonillo (Sierra de Alcaraz and Campo de Montiel, Albacete), continuously inhabited since the Bronze Age, within the Manchegan Bronze Age culture, and which in Roman times was one of the most important road junctions in La Mancha. Frequently mentioned in 13th-century documents as the seat of a medieval parish, it was annexed to El Bonillo on 20 June 1566. It remained inhabited until the mid-20th century, when it still had a school and a Guardia Civil barracks, before being abandoned. Next to its remains stands the hermitage, the destination of the 1 May pilgrimage, along with the vestiges of one of the three medieval hamlets whose union gave rise to El Bonillo.
Nature
The Navalcudia-Susana lagoon complex extends across the municipal areas of El Ballestero, El Bonillo and Lezuza (Albacete), on the headwater divide between the Guadiana and Júcar basins. It is a hydrogeological system formed by numerous dolines and lagoons, locally known as navas or navajos, which constitute the main recharge area of the Campo de Montiel aquifer. The complex brings together at least sixty lagoon formations, generally trough-shaped, with vertical walls, shallow depth and flat bottoms, of which about twenty, the most representative, are known by their own place names and form, within the municipality of El Bonillo, an important resting area for migratory birds.
Nature
Old salt works in the El Bonillo area, royal property since 1620, integrated into the protected environment of the source of the Guadiana Alto. They were then known as the Real Saladero de Pinilla; with the Mendizábal disentailment in the 19th century, they passed into private hands. The Romans already made use of them, as shown by the remains of a Roman camp found next to the Salinas lagoons.
Activity
The feast of the Santísimo Cristo de los Milagros is celebrated in El Bonillo (Albacete) on 4 March, in memory of the miracle that occurred in 1640 at the house of Antón Díaz: while he was kneading bread, the cross that a relative had brought him from the Holy Land began to sweat, a phenomenon that lasted for 17 days. The event is depicted in a painting kept in the parish museum. The Christ is again carried in procession on 14 September, the day of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Activity
The Holy Week of El Bonillo (Albacete) is known for its drum and bugle bands, which led to its declaration as an Interés Turístico Regional (regional tourist interest event) in 2011. Since 2004, the Certamen de Bandas y Cornetas has been held on the weekend before Holy Week begins, with the participation of local bands and guests from other towns.
Curiosity
Carlos I granted the place the title of villa in 1538 and Felipe II extended its jurisdiction in 1566. The municipality was born of the medieval union of three villages: Sotuélamos, San Miguel de Susaña and Santa Catalina.
Historical milestone
While preparing the Ibero-American Exposition of Seville, notice was taken of a canvas hanging high up in the parish church: it was a Christ embracing the cross by El Greco. Kept in the Bank of Spain during the war, it was restored by the Museo del Prado in 1970.
Food and drink
The flocks of Manchegan sheep that graze the plains between El Bonillo and Munera supply the area's dairies; the cheese is pressed in an esparto plait mold, cured in a chamber or in oil, and served as the obligatory appetizer of any table.