Bañares

Bañares is a municipality of La Rioja, Spain. It is located in the comarca of Santa Domingo de la Calzada, some 45 km west of Logroño.Its economy is primarily based on agriculture. Especially in the cultivation of potato, cereal, beets and green beans.HistoryThe first references to the village of Bañares confirm its existence as early as 1051:.In the year 1133 King Alfonso the Battler, who ruled over La Rioja, donated to Pedro, Archdeacon and rector of the Church of El Salvador, all the estates that touched upon the castle of Bilibio, along with all the land of the King in the village of Bañares, by Royal Decree.In 1157, on the plain of Valpierre, near Bañares, two battles were fought between the troops of Sancho III of Castile and Sancho III of Navarre, the latter having tried to take advantage of the death of Alfonso VII to acquire Castilian territory.By 1200, Pedro Fernández de Villegas I (hero of the Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa in 1212) was lord of the behetría (benefactor) of Bañares.The town was the scene of bloody battles in the 12th and 13th centuries between the kingdoms of Navarre and Castile.