At 50 kilometers from Madrid and without reaching 9,000 inhabitants, this municipality southeast of Madrid has as many faces as history. Colmenar de Oreja is in the region of Las Vegas, is the town that has conquered the film industry and generations of travelers thanks to its Castilian architecture and its imposing network of centuries-old wineries.
The town center, declared an Asset of Cultural Interest, has been the scene of films and international productions, partly because of its arcaded squares, earthenware jars and limestone streets, materials used in historical monuments and exported for centuries. Many films were shot here during the 1960s, especially spaghetti westerns such as Burt Kennedy’s Return of the Magnificent Seven and recently Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, as well as all kinds of Spanish productions.
The advantages of filming here, in addition to how picturesque the town is, are that it takes less than an hour to get here from the capital and the natural landscape varies from very green in winter or spring, to the driest in summer, being able to simulate the desert.
The wine of Denominación de Origen Madrid in Colmenar de Oreja
But in addition to beauty, history and lots of cinema, the town is marked by the wine tradition: under the houses and wineries, a network of caves extends more than twelve meters deep where wines D.O. Madrid recognized since the nineteenth century rest. These wineries, such as Jesús Díaz e hijos or Bodegas Peral, have preserved the ancestral knowledge of winemaking and aging in centenary vats, with international awards that have marked the prestige of the town.
In addition to the attraction of the wineries and wine tourism, Colmenar de Oreja has an average price per square meter that is less than half that of the Madrid capital -according to Idealista, it is between 875 and 1,103 euros compared to 5,718 euros in the capital-, which makes this town one of the most affordable municipalities with the highest quality of life in the Community.
Between countryside, wineries, history, lively squares thanks to its Wine Fair and proximity to Madrid, Colmenar de Oreja sounds more and more like a final destination in which to stay and live and not just as a weekend getaway to one of the most charming villages in the region.