Parque del Espolón park
From warlike fort to playground

This park, a popular place for many Alba people, who usually choose it for quiet walks and for their kids to play, offers splendid views over the town and the Tormes valley. It is located, more or less, in the place where the alcázar or military fort stood in the Middle Ages, which was in charge of defending the town from any of the attacks that, for various reasons, were suffered over the centuries. Among them, those carried out by Almanzor during his conquering or the border wars between the kingdoms of Leon and Castile. It is believed that the defensive walls that surrounded Alba de Tormes began in that fortified alcázar; a city wall which, according to ancient testimonies, had five doors into the town.

When the Álvarez de Toledo family arrived in Alba, they built a new castle in the highest part of the town. The wall that surrounds the park is practically the only part of the ancient wall that still remains.