Portal de Turismo de Castilla y León

Dates

23 October to 30 December 2026

When?

Currently

Link

To know more

From October 23 to December 30, 2026, this exhibition about the town of San Bernardo, in the municipality of Valbuena de Duero, in the province of Valladolid, can be visited from Monday to Friday, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Between 1940 and 1970, an intense period of internal colonization took place, leading to the establishment of nearly three hundred new towns throughout Spain, three of which were in the province of Valladolid. This exhibition is dedicated to one of them, San Bernardo, whose history began 75 years ago.

Through nearly fifty testimonies, the Provincial Historical Archive of Valladolid wants to show the basic lines of the evolution of this unique town located on the banks of the Duero River: textual documents, photographs, plans and brochures, almost all of them generated by the National Institute of Colonization, its promoter.

Following the pieces displayed in the showcases placed in the entrance hall and the Sala Rica of the Vivero Palace, we can appreciate the phases that San Bernardo went through.

The first section was dedicated to the preliminary work. Through the four pieces, they bear witness to the process surrounding the purchase of the Finca de San Bernardo estate, which originated from the disentailment of the Santa María de Valbuena monastery in the 19th century, by the Institute on June 9, 1951. Likewise, we can learn about the selection process for the settlers who would work the 85 plots of land: they came from nearby Valbuena de Duero, the former workers of the estate, and from the south of the province of Guadalajara, displaced from their homes by the construction of the Buendía and Palmaces reservoirs.

The second part of the exhibition focuses on the village's origins between 1951 and 1957. Its 21 pieces attempt to reflect the intense activity of those years, which began with the settlement of families in barracks, the land division and irrigation works, and the design and construction of the new village. Finally, land and housing were allocated to the settlers in 1956.

Following the enormous effort undertaken in the second phase, the third part of the exhibition focuses on the slow development of the village. Its sixteen pieces offer a glimpse into the social and cultural life of the settlers and their families, as well as the improvements introduced by the Institute, such as the Women's Home and the cemetery, between 1958 and 1970.

The final section, with its eight pieces, reflects the last years of the Institute's presence and that of its successor, IRYDA. It begins with a milestone desired by both the settlers and the Institute: the establishment of San Bernardo as a Minor Local Entity in 1971. Following this, we can appreciate the latest improvements made to the village and its surroundings between that year and 1985.

After this condensed tour, in which plans and photographs give us an illusion of closeness, the exhibition will fulfill its objective if it has given us the opportunity to recognize the talent and effort of the professionals who guided the creation and development of San Bernardo and the sacrifices and work that the settlers and their families had to face day after day to form a prosperous and cohesive rural community.