El Toboso

{{About|a town Castile-La Mancha in Spain|the municipality in the Philippines|Toboso, Negros Occidental}}

{{Infobox settlement

| name = El Toboso

| settlement_type = Municipality

| official_name =

| native_name =

| image_skyline = El Toboso, viñas e iglesias.jpg

| image_alt =

| image_caption =

| image_flag =

| image_shield = Escudo de El Toboso (Toledo).svg

| nickname =

| motto =

| map_caption =

| pushpin_map = Spain Castile-La Mancha#Spain

| pushpin_label_position =

| pushpin_relief = 1

| subdivision_type = Country

| subdivision_name = Spain

| subdivision_type1 = Autonomous community

| subdivision_name1 = Castilla–La Mancha

| subdivision_type2 = Province

| subdivision_name2 = Toledo

| seat_type =

| seat =

| coordinates = {{coord|39|31|5|N|2|59|53|W|region:ES_type:city|display=inline}}

| coordinates_footnotes =

| elevation_m = 635

| elevation_min_m =

| elevation_max_m =

| area_footnotes =

| area_total_km2 = 144.19

| established_title =

| established_date =

| population_as_of = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}

| population_footnotes = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}

| population_total = {{Spain metadata Wikidata|population_total}}

| population_demonym = Tobeseños, Tobosinos, Tobosescos

| population_note =

| population_density_km2 = auto

| blank_name_sec1 = Official language(s)

| blank_info_sec1 =

| timezone = CET

| utc_offset = +1

| timezone_DST = CEST

| utc_offset_DST = +2

| postal_code_type = Postal code

| postal_code = 45820

| area_code_type = Dialing code

| area_code =

| leader_title = Mayor

| leader_name =

| leader_party =

| website ={{URL|eltoboso.es}}

| footnotes =

}}

El Toboso is a Spanish municipality located in the province of Toledo, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. According to the 2009 data, El Toboso has a total population of 2,219 inhabitants. The economy of the town is based on wine production and cattle, and sheep.

Placename

The placename is a derivative of the word {{lang|es|toba}} (from vulgar Latin {{Smallcaps|tōfa}}, Classical Latin {{Smallcaps|tōfus}}), used in Spanish both for Scotch thistle and for porous limestone types, with the addition of the suffix {{lang|es|-oso}} (relative to abundance).{{Sfn|García Sánchez|2025|p=4}} In the 1575 Relations, El Toboso is cited to be named because of the presence of thistle in the surroundings.{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|1999|p=48}} Clemencín suggests instead a reference to porous stones (not common in the area).{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|1999|p=48}}

History

The place received a population charter in 1275.{{Sfn|Jiménez de Gregorio|1999|p=40}} It received the privilege of township in 1338.{{Sfn|Porras Arboledas|1995|p=70}} El Toboso was one of the founding members of the Común de La Mancha, an institution related to the Order of Santiago set up in 1353 by Maester Fadrique with the aim of satisfying demands about a more equitable distribution of taxes from several localities.{{Sfn|García Sánchez|2025|p=2}}{{Sfn|Porras Arboledas|1995|p=97}} The town received a small number of Granadan Morisco families from Vélez Rubio who had been deported in 1571 in the wake of the Alpujarras Revolt.{{Sfn|Ghazali|2023|p=179}}

Main sights

The Catholic church of San Antonio Abad, built in the 15th century.
The convent of Trinitarias Recoletas, from the 17th century.
The Cervantine Museum.
The Museum of Dulcinea
The lake of La Nava.

In popular culture

El Toboso is famous for appearing in the novel Don Quixote by the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes, as the town in which the fictional character Dulcinea lives. The town also appears in Graham Greene's tribute Monsignor Quixote, where the heroes are a priest (supposedly a descendant of Cervantes's character), and the recently deposed Communist mayor of the town in the post-Franco era.

References

Bibliography

{{Cite book|title=Sendas del hispanismo: márgenes, centros y convergencias. Actas del XXI Congreso de la Asociación Internacional de Hispanistas (Neuchatel 2023)|chapter-url=https://www.iberoamericana-vervuert.es/capitulos/9783968696935_016.pdf|chapter=El Toboso, análisis de un topónimo muy cervantino, junto a otros manchegos, a la luz del Toponomasticon Hispaniae|first=Jairo Javier|last=García Sánchez|doi=10.31819/9783968696935_016|editor-first=Juan Pedro|editor-last=Sánchez Méndez|editor-first2=Elena|editor-last2=Padrón Castilla|editor-first3=Nerea|editor-last3=Parro Gómez|publisher=Iberoamericana Vervuert|year=2025|pages=1–11}}
{{Cite book|chapter=Los moriscos de El Toboso. El proceso inquisitorial de Francisco Ximénez (1603-1605), ¿un proceso político en vísperas de la expulsión de 1609?|first=María|last=Ghazali|url=https://roderic.uv.es/items/db5293eb-4fbe-4543-a8a3-e12238625e99|title=Poderosos, marginados y gente común: una historia de todos. Homenaje a Rafael Benítez Sánchez-Blanco|editor-first=Fernando|editor-last=Andrés Robres|editor-first2=Juan Francisco|editor-last2=Pardo Molero|editor-first3=Manuel|editor-last3=Lomas Cortés|editor-first4=Bruno|editor-last4=Pomara Saverino|year=2023|publisher=Albatros|isbn=978-84-7274-402-8}}
{{Cite journal|title=La repoblación de La Mancha santiaguista en tiempos de Alfonso XI|first=Pedro Andrés|last=Porras Arboledas|year=1995|url=https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/CUHD/article/view/CUHD9595110059A/20529|journal=Cuadernos de Historia del Derecho|location=Madrid|publisher=Ediciones Complutense|volume=2|issn=1133-7613}}
{{Cite book|url=https://www.viajarconcervantes.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/La-Mancha-toledana-por-Fernando-Jimenez-de-Gregorio.pdf|author-link=Fernando Jiménez de Gregorio|first=Fernando|last=Jiménez de Gregorio|year=1999|isbn=84-87103-92-8|publisher=Diputación Provincial|location=Toledo|title=La Mancha toledana}}

Toboso