Fresno de Torote

The first houses of ‘Fresno de Torote’ were built in the fifteenth century by the Marquess of Santillana. The village is mostly abandoned at the present time, only some farmers are living in the village near Madrid.

The small village was owned by many generations of the marquess until the twentieth century. The town is situated in the narrow valley of the Torote river. It had 45 houses and also a church and a school. The owners had a cattle farm with large number of cows, horses, and sheep. Also, there was a big agricultural area where wheat and barley grew.

The town housed workers of the Mendoza farm. The workers didn’t own the houses, but could live there as long as they worked on the farm.  

Ghost town

The emerging industry during the 1960s became the end of Fresno. As a result, young people moved to Madrid, where they earned higher salaries and where they could own their own homes. Also, the farms were more modern, people were replaced by machines. By 1970 the town is mostly abandoned. Only some farmers stay.

At the present time, the town is owned by a farmer who uses a couple of buildings. Most of the town is rotting away. Houses are in a very bad state and many roofs have collapsed. The parish church had restoration works done in 2001 and 2008. During the works they found a sarcophagus of Juan de Mendoza, descendant of the Marquess of Santillana and second lord of Fresno de Torote. I visited the ghost town in 2012. More Spanish urbex locations can be found here.