Village
Municipality of the comarca of La Mancha, in the province of Ciudad Real, whose name alludes to the Ojos del Guadiana, springs at the edge of the district where the river reappeared at the surface after its underground course; to the north the municipality reaches into the Montes de Toledo, where the Alamillo reaches 1,213 metres. In 1609 close to half its population was Morisco and, despite three attempts at expulsion, returned again and again until integrating through mixed marriages; its Holy Week, with seven processions, was declared of Regional Tourist Interest in 2014.
Nature
The Ojos del Guadiana were a natural area located on the boundary of the municipal district of Villarrubia de los Ojos and the neighboring districts of Daimiel and Las Labores, where small wetland areas arising in old meanders and karst formations cut across the water table of the aquifer and made the course of the Guadiana reappear at the surface after its underground stretch, a phenomenon that gives the town its name. It appears to be proven that the river actually rose here, and not in the Lagunas de Ruidera, as was long believed. The area dried up definitively in 1984 due to overexploitation of the aquifer, and today it is destroyed, partly cultivated and partly affected by the intermittent combustion of the peat bogs formed over the last ten thousand years.
Monument
Sanctuary of the patron saint of Villarrubia de los Ojos, located about twelve kilometers from the town center, on the slope of a mountain range within a valley where important archaeological remains have also been found. It consists of a hermitage and a courtyard with corridors, and has undergone considerable modifications in recent decades; in the town itself, the site is popularly known as La Virgen. It is reached by several paths, including a small road that branches off the road between Fuente el Fresno and Villarrubia de los Ojos, or by the Posadilla path, not very passable by car but with extraordinary views over the plain of La Mancha. Every year a pilgrimage is held on Easter Monday (Lunes de Resurrección) and on the third Sunday of May.
Monument
Parish church of Villarrubia de los Ojos, built entirely in ashlar masonry, whose tower was still unfinished by the mid-19th century, according to Madoz's dictionary. It is accompanied in the municipality by the Monastery of Nuestra Señora de la Soledad, of Poor Clare nuns, and a convent of the Dominican Teaching Sisters.
Nature
The northern part of the municipal district of Villarrubia de los Ojos extends into the Montes de Toledo, where the Alamillo reaches 1,213 meters, well above the plain of La Mancha. This elevation corresponds to the Sierra de la Virgen, part of the Sierra de la Calderina, which stretches about eight kilometers from east to west between the municipalities of Villarrubia de los Ojos and Fuente el Fresno, both in the province of Ciudad Real. No road crosses it; the Puerto de Ciudad Real passes very close by, between the Sierra Luenga and the Sierra de la Virgen. At the foot of the latter is the hermitage of the Virgen de la Sierra.
Activity
Seven processions make up the Semana Santa (Holy Week) of Villarrubia de los Ojos, declared de Interés Turístico Regional (a regional tourist-interest designation) in 2014. Three brotherhoods take part, popularly known by the color of their robes: the greens, of Jesús en el Descendimiento and María Santísima de la Esperanza; the whites, of la Soledad, la Vera Cruz and San Cristóbal; and the purples ("moraos"), of Jesús Nazareno and the Santísimo Cristo en la Agonía. Among the twenty images that process, the most emotional moment is that of the Encuentros ("Encounters"), in the early hours of Good Friday, when three of them cross paths in the streets of the town.
Activity
Main festivities of Villarrubia de los Ojos (Ciudad Real), celebrated from September 7 to 12 in honor of the Virgen de la Sierra, also patron saint of Moral de Calatrava and Cabra (Córdoba), and of eighteen villages of the former Order of Saint John of Jerusalem. The image is venerated at the sanctuary of the Virgen de la Sierra, twelve kilometers from the town. At the end of August, usually on the last Sunday of the month, the Bajada de la Patrona is celebrated: the image is carried on a litter, on foot and at a run, accompanied by a large part of the town. Once the grape harvest is finished and with the first rains, the Virgin returns to the sanctuary in the Subida, usually on the third Sunday of November, leaving the town at around seven in the morning to arrive for Mass, around nine.
Curiosity
In 1609 close to half the population of Villarrubia de los Ojos was morisco, an exceptional proportion in Castile. Despite three attempts at expulsion, they returned again and again and ended up integrating through mixed marriages.