The illiberal count and a land of wine and potatoes

October 05, 2026

Given the nature of my early trips to Spain, in February half terms, the land had a bleached feeling to it. If we were getting all anthropomorphising it was as if the life force had retreated into the earth, leaving brittle straws of grass and naked branches. I remember the same crossing from valley top to valet top in South Wales in my youth.

We are going up a valley that reminds me of my early visits. Fields in the valley floor and then scrub as the slopes take the land away. Ahead of us is Romanones. They got a count so let's talk about him.

Alvaro de Figueroa was the son of Ignacio Figueroa y Mendieta, a millionaire whose dad had owned a fortune from mining companies, and Ana de Torres y Romo, daughter of the Marquis of Villamejor. He got a law degree in Madrid [1885] and began his accent to power by joining the Congress of Deputies in 1888 for the Liberals. Think Whig Party rather than the party of David Steele. He seems to have been an argumentative chap who argued with ‘energy’ and was challenged to a duel. He became Count of Romanies and was made mayor of Madrid in 1894 and acquired a daily paper to ensure people appreciated his finer points.

Fast forward to the 1910s, he was Prime Minister in 1912-13, 1915-17 and 1918-19. He did not leave much of a mark on things. During the Civil War he fled to France and then returned to the Fascist zone and wrote ‘why the Fasc are legit’ piece for Franco. He died in 1950.

Let us jump straight to the GSH Dictionary and 1845. ‘ROMANONES: . Situated on a plain in a narrow ravine, surrounded by hills where gypsum abounds, its climate is very warm in the summer: it has 10 houses ; the town hall with a room for the primary school attended by 45 students, endowed with 1,100 reales; there is a public inn, a granary with a fund of 103 fanegas of wheat; a hospital belonging to an entailed estate, on which the obligation to maintain 3 beds for the sick and to take in poor travelers; a parish church (the Assumption of Our Lady) served by a priest, a chaplain and a sacristan: The land is mostly broken and of inferior quality; however, there are two very fertile meadows and two good hills covered with holm oak, oak, and some pine trees. It is bathed by the Tajuña River , whose waters are not utilized, and a stream that, after irrigating the meadow, flows into it. Roads : the local roads and the one that leads from Madrid to the baths of Trillo. Mail : received and dispatched in Armuña. Products : wheat, barley, oats, oil, wine, safflower, anise, legumes, potatoes, hemp, vegetables, firewood and charcoal, and pastures that support sheep, goats, cattle, mules, and donkeys. Hunting is plentiful for partridges, hares, rabbits, and some deer; fishing yields barbel, trout, and eels. Industry includes agriculture, charcoal production when logging is permitted, a flour mill, and an olive oil mill. Population : 90 households, 267 inhabitants.

Romanoes has not thrived. A population between 500-700 from the 1850s, slumped in the 1960s and this has continued to the 2000s, where it has stablished around 120.

We will stroll through the Plaza Mayor and nod towards the Ayuntamiento de Romanones. It is a neat little structure Four people left it with 4.8 stars. A year go Francisco said ‘A very peaceful village on our trip through "La Alcarria" where we stopped to buy some food and drinks. Very welcoming and the locals were very friendly.’ The town hall opens Tuesday to Friday from 10am to 2pm. I can’t find a website, but to be fair, I’ve not looked hard.