Cigarral

Type of building in Toledo, Spain

Cigarral refers to recreational estates or mansions on the south bank of the Tagus river as it passes by the city of Toledo, Spain, with a main building intended for recreational housing, a secondary building for the grounskeepers (cigarraleros) and, most important and characteristic, large grounds of a minimum of 7000 m². Until the mid-20th century areas of around 20 000 m² were common.

The origin of the word cigarral is unknown. The most commonly etymology is that it comes from the seasonal presence of cicadas (Spanish: cigarras) in the summer months, when these residences were primarily occupied.^[1] Other versions relate it to the conjunction of two Arabic words that refer to recreational house.^[2]

History

It is given as a false moment of origin in the middle of the 15th century. Once the clashes between the Arab and Christian kingdoms subsided, some important members of the church leadership began to buy land on the river's southern shore, and spend the summer on these farms. In the middle of the 17th century, the lands of the cigarrales were devoted to fruit trees.

Their use as second residences for the Toledan bourgeoisie continued until the mid-20th century when, as the large areas were not profitable and the maintenance costs of these farms were high, they began to be subdivided into smaller plots.

In 1994, the PECHT, the Special Plan of the Historic District, the urban planning regulations of the Center of Toledo and the Tagus area, which includes the cigarrales entered into force. From that date, it became more difficult to subdivide large cigarrales, and a gradual change of use of the area began. Hotels and restaurants took over the cigarrales and gave the area the character of a tertiary zone for recreation services as it lost its residential character.

In 2006, in the face of the great deterioration of the Cigarrales area with the transformation of use, the first advance of the Special Cigarrales Plan was presented, a document proposed by PECHT to organize the urbanization of the Cigarrales.

Illustrious neighbors of Cigarrales

One of the chapters of Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes takes place in the Cigarrales as the protagonist passes through Toledo.
Tirso de Molina in 1621 wrote Los Cigarrales de Toledo.
Galdós, a great lover of Toledo and the cigarrales, showed them to his friend Gregorio Marañón.

References

^ Walsh, William Shepard; Garrison, William H.; Harris, Samuel R. (1888). American Notes and Queries. Westminister Publishing Company.
^ Gouley, John William Severin (1907). Dining and Its Amenities. Rebman Company.