Benavente, Zamora


Benavente is a town and municipality in the north of the province of Zamora, in the autonomous community Castile and León of Spain. It has about 20,000 inhabitants.
Located north of the capital on an important communications hub, it was repopulated by King Ferdinand II of León, who also awarded it law-codes in 1167. It was originally known as Malgrat or Malgrado.
WWW benavente.es

History

12th century - Catholic Monarchs

After the death of Fernando II of León who renamed the town from Malgrat to Benavente and led a campaign in 1164 to repopulate the city, as part of a long process of reconquest from the Moors. Alfonso IX and Alfonso X continued to help the growth of Benavente through privileges and grants. When Alfonso IX of León died, the town was the scene of the definitive union of the Crowns of León and Castile in the Concordia of Benavente, later falling into decline until Sancho IV promoted its aggrandizement in 1285, attracting new settlers with franchises.
In 1352 Fadrique Alfonso, brother of King Pedro I, received the town in exchange for not attacking Pedro. In 1387 Benavente was surrounded by the English and Portuguese troops of the Duchy of Lancaster who tried to besiege it, and the besiegers were defeated in this attempt.

Location

Benavente is located in the North of Province of Zamora, in the North-West of Spain. It is 65 km away from Zamora City and 260 km from Madrid and its coordinates are 42° 0' N 5° 41' W.
The adjacent municipalities of Benavente are Villanueva de Azoague, Manganeses de la Polvorosa, Santa Cristina de la Polvorosa, Villabrázaro, San Cristóbal de Entreviñas, Castrogonzalo, Santa Colomba de las Monjas and Arcos de la Polvorosa, all of them belonging to Province of Zamora.
North-West: Manganeses de la PolvorosaNorth: VillabrázaroNorth-East: San Cristóbal de Entreviñas
West: Santa Cristina de la PolvorosaEast: San Cristóbal de Entreviñas
South-West:Santa Cristina de la PolvorosaSouth: Villanueva de Azoague, Santa Colomba de las Monjas and Arcos de la PolvorosaSouth-East: Castrogonzalo

Transport

Roads and Highways

Benavente is connected to the national road network through different roads and highways:
TownsDistance
Toro69
Villalpando30
Puebla de Sanabria84
Salamanca134
Zamora65
Tordesillas80
Medina de Rioseco62
Medina del Campo105
Valladolid112
Valencia de Don Juan33
La Bañeza37
Astorga65
Ponferrada124
León70
Palencia90
Segovia235
Ávila190
Burgos210
Oviedo182
Madrid266
Ourense238
Gijón210
Soria318
Vitoria-Gasteiz347
Porto334
Bilbao388
Lisbon600
Barcelona836

Bus Services

Bus services are provided in the Bus Station by different companies like Alsa, Auto-Res, Empresa Vivas, Linecar or Autocares Julio Fernández.
There is a taxi stand in the Bus Station.

National lines

Daily services to: A Coruña, Astorga, Algeciras, Asturias, Ávila, Badajoz, Barcelona, Bilbao, Cáceres, Cádiz, Cangas de Narcea, Irún, La Bañeza, León, Lugo, Logroño, Málaga, Madrid, Mérida, Ourense, Monforte, Palencia, Plasencia, Ponferrada, Pontevedra, Salamanca, San Fernando, San Sebastián, Santiago de Compostela, Sevilla, Valladolid, Verín, Vigo, Villablino, Zafra, Zamora and Zaragoza.

International lines

  • Switzerland
  • Germany
  • Belgium
  • Holland
  • France -
  • France
  • Andorra

Regional lines

Local Service

Senior citizens have a free urban bus service.

Taxi

The town has several taxi stands, one of them in the Bus Station.

Demographics

The total population of Benavente in 2025 are 17,468, up from 17,246 in 2024 and 17,261 in 2023. The sexes were 52% women and 48% men.

Nationality

Over 90.5% of the population were Spanish nationals, with 9.5% born outside Spain with Moroccans the most numerous at 363, Colombians were 264, Bulgarians 219 and 175 Romanians.

Plaza mayor

The main square is plaza mayor where the Town hall building is located.

Tourism

Parador

  • Parador de Turismo Fernando II, which occupies the Caracol Tower, a 16th-century castle with wide segmental miradors and a Mudéjar coffered ceiling in the main section

Churches

  • Church of Santa María de Azogue, in Romanesque style, begun in 1180. It has a Latin cross plan, with a nave and two aisles, separated by cruciform pilasters, with five apses. The nave has Gothic cross vaults added in the 16th century. The interior is home of several Gothic sculptures, such as that of the "Annunciation"
  • San Juan del Mercado Church, in Romanesque style. It has three decorated portals with the Adoration of the Magi, the Virgin and Child and scenes of the birth of Jesus.

Hostel

  • Hospital of La Piedad, an old pilgrim hostel.

Other

  • Hermitage of Soledad
  • Caracol Tower

Events

  • Fiestas de la Veguilla. The local celebration in honor of the Virgen de la Vega to celebrate the torno al llamado.
  • Fiestas del toro enmaromado. Celebrated the day before the corpus, where the young men run in front of a long rope held on the horns of a bull.

Accommodation

Hotels

  • "Parador de Turismo Rey Fernando II de León" Paseos de la Mota, s/n
  • "Villa de Benavente" Avda. de las Américas, s/n
  • "Santiago" Avda. Maragatos, 34
  • "Orense" C/ San Antón Viejo, 4
  • "Arenas" Ctra. de Madrid, Km 261

Hostels

  • "Hostal Avenida" Avda. El Ferial, 17
  • "Bristol" C/ Santa Cruz, 44.
  • "Universal" C/ Sancti Spíritus, 17
  • "Alameda" Autovía Madrid - Coruña km. 262
  • "Covadonga" Avenida Federico Silva, 16
  • "Paradero 3" Autovía Madrid – Coruña Km 261
  • "Paraíso" C/ los Herreros, 64
  • "La Trucha" C/ la Viña, 5
  • "Jara" Autovía Madrid-Coruña km. 261
  • "Pensión La Trapería" C/Agujero de San Andrés, 10

Climate

Benavente is characterized by a cold semi-arid climate in the Köppen climate classification with continental influences due to the altitude of the municipality and its distance to the sea. The amount of winter frosts is increased, taking place even in spring, with consequential damage to some of the local agriculture.

Twin towns – sister cities

Notable people

Language

Regional speech is influenced by the Leonese language.

Cinemas and theatres

  • "Reina Sofía" Theatre.
  • "Multicines Benavente" Cinema.