From Phoenician temples, battles between Celtiberians and Romans, Muslims and Christians, attacks by pirates and the struggle for power between the nobility and the monarchy, have made Spain a country of fortresses. In total, it is believed that there are some 20,000, although not all have managed to remain in perfect condition and many have disappeared. There are associations that have about 10,200 inventories.
Most of the Spanish castles are concentrated in Castile, hence the name; Catalonia, Aragon and Jaen. Their extensive fields are dotted with towers built on high ground that is difficult to access, from where they control the territory.
Far from the roads, with their vigilant keep at the top of the mountain, they seem to continue defending themselves from the passing of time, which has taken its toll on many of them. From castles of Celtiberian origin such as Pedraza, one of the oldest in Europe. The Romans, Visigoths, Arabs and Christians have left their mark there. It was also the residence of the Fernández de Velasco family, the highest authority of the armies of Castile. Even medieval castles, erected as the Reconquest advanced and designed to shelter the population within its wide walls; Renaissance, Baroque; fortified towers built in front of the sea to prevent attacks by the Berbers, or already in the 16th and 17th centuries by the most fearsome pirates who ravaged the coasts.
Video collection with almost all the castles I have shot in Spain, recorded until March 2020
