Logbook · 8 places

What to see and do in Villatobas

What to see and do in Villatobas (Mesa de Ocaña, Toledo): 8 places across monuments, nature, activities and curiosities, with a photo and a Google Maps location.

1 Villages · 3 Monuments · 3 Curiosities · 1 Food and drink

How far each place is from the centre of Villatobas

Air Surveillance Squadron EVA 2 3.2 km

Towns near Villatobas

Spain › Castilla-La Mancha › Toledo › Mesa de Ocaña › Villatobas

What to see and do in Villatobas

Villatobas
Village
Villatobas is a municipality in the comarca of the Mesa de Ocaña, in the province of Toledo, with 2,964 inhabitants (2025); its name alludes to the abundance of wild thistles at the site where the town was founded. It is already cited in the 1219 settlement charter of Montealegre as Villa de Tobas, and in the 14th century it was under the rule of the Order of Santiago, which in 1328 granted it grazing rights in exchange for half the tithe of cheese and wool. Charles V granted it the title of town in 1537, separating it from the jurisdiction of Ocaña. On 16 July 1702 the town named Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno as its patron, with the feast fixed for 14 September; its sanctuary is a Baroque complex of the 17th and 18th centuries, and in 1958 the Escuadrón de Vigilancia Aérea número 2 (Air Surveillance Squadron No. 2) was set up in its municipal area.
Church of Nuestra Señora de la Asunción de Villatobas
Monument
A 16th-century parish church, the principal religious monument of this town at the north-eastern edge of the Mesa de Ocaña.
Shrine of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno
Monument
The sanctuary of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno in Villatobas is a Baroque complex of the 17th and 18th centuries, built in whitewashed masonry and brick, with a Latin-cross floor plan covered by a barrel vault with lunettes and a crossing topped by a hemispherical dome. On 16 July 1702 the parish priest, twelve priests native to the village, the Council of Justice and around 600 residents of the town swore to name him patron, setting his feast day for 14 September.
Hermitages of Villatobas
Monument
The municipality preserves several hermitages scattered across the town and countryside, including those dedicated to Saint Isidore, Saint George and Saint Anne, as well as those of Saint Joseph and Saint Catherine. The most notable is the hermitage of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno, from the 17th-18th centuries and Baroque style, with a Latin-cross floor plan.
The Town Charter of Carlos V
Curiosity
On 25 September 1537 the Emperor Charles V, meeting at Monzón, granted Villatobas (Toledo) the title of town, separating it from the jurisdiction of Ocaña. The town had enjoyed grazing rights and taxation rights over wool and cheese since 1328, granted by Vasco Rodríguez, master of the Order of Santiago, and confirmed for centuries by the Catholic Monarchs, Charles I and Philip II.
Air Surveillance Squadron EVA 2
Curiosity
The 2nd Air Surveillance Squadron, the first of the Air Force's Alert and Control Squadrons to enter service, was set up in Villatobas in 1958, sharing facilities and radar with the American 681st Air Defense Control Squadron. Its creation responded to the 1953 Madrid Pacts, which included the deployment of a surveillance network for Spanish airspace as part of the modernization of the Armed Forces. Six other similar centers entered service between 1957 and 1960, completing numbers 1 through 7, until in 1964 the United States handed the facilities over to the Spanish Government and disbanded its squadrons. The installation was the site, on 8 July 1958, of the first aerial interception carried out in Spain.
Tobas, the Origin of the Place Name
Curiosity
The name combines villa and tobas, perhaps with an intermediate preposition de that was lost over time. Tobas is the plural of the term toba, from the Vulgar Latin tofa and the Classical Latin tofus, which can refer either to a porous, lightweight limestone or to a variety of thistle, the cotton thistle. According to the article on the municipality, the toponym most likely refers to the abundance of wild thistles in the place where the town was founded, rather than to the stone.
Beans with partridge
Food and drink
The small game of the cereal moorlands gives the most repeated dish of the Mesa: white beans stewed with partridge, bay leaf and paprika, cooked over a low flame until the bird falls apart. It is also served in a version of rice with hare.