Béjar

Béjar was founded towards October–November 1208 and it was presumably granted a fuero afterwards.^[3] It was originally placed to the south of the current settlement, but the population relocated to its current location in the first half of the 14th century.^[3] Featuring a cattle-based economy, the town sustained a quick early growth.^[3] Over the rest of the middle ages, the town passed several times from a royal demesne to seigneurial lordship and vice versa.^[3] The town saw its fuero ratified in 1333.^[3] Béjar celebrated an eight-day long medieval fair every year.^[4] The town enjoyed from availability to plenty of wood resources, hydropower and sheep flocks.^[5]

The arrival to power of the Zúñiga family after 1396 favoured the installment of numerous courtiers and servants, who increased the demand for clothing products.^[6] Cloth-making boomed in the late-17th century.^[7] The Ducal House of Béjar brought Flemish artisans to update the wool manufacturing techniques.^[8]

Unlike other textile manufacturing hubs in the Castilian Meseta, the local textile industry got to survive past the Early Modern Period.^[9] The late modern history of Béjar is indeed marked by its thriving textile industry, and during the 19th century it came to be referred to as the "Castilian Manchester".^[10]

Due to the peripheral location of the town and the rugged relief, railway arrived late to Béjar, in 1894.^[11] Following the end of the Civil War, Béjar became a major provider of wool clothes, primarily used for military and civil servants' uniforms.^[12]

Béjar maintained a positive demographic growth until 1970, peaking at 17,576 inhabitants.^[12] The textile industry entered a crisis in the 1970s, prompting to staffing cutbacks.^[12] Passenger train services in the Astorga–Plasencia line closed on 1 January 1985, and rail freight transport a decade later, worsening rural flight patterns in the area and hindering business development.^[13] In the wake of the decline of the secondary sector, the municipality has tried to foster other alternatives for the local economy such as tourism.^[14]

The name Béjar is presumably of pre-Roman origin and it has been documented as Biclara and Biclaro.^[15]

Béjar has many remarkable monuments and historical buildings:^[16]

• City walls: well-preserved medieval fort
• Church of Saint James (Santiago): built in the 12th century, now serves as a Museum of Religious Art
• Church of Saint Mary the Great (Santa María la Mayor): built between the 12th and 17th centuries, in several different architectural styles (from Mudejar to Baroque)
• Jewish Museum David Melul: shows Béjar's Hebrew past
• Ducal Palace and Camera Obscura: an ancient fortress transformed into a palace for the Duke and Duchess of Béjar in the 16th century.

• Palomares de Béjar
• Sierra de Béjar