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Located on the right side of river Magro, between San Juan and Roma villages, in the sub-region of La Vega in the Municipality of Requena. In the other side of the river, approximately one kilometer and a half away, is located San Antonio, the bigger village in the Municipality, with more than two thousands of inhabitants,and trade center of the area, as well as workplace and even place of residence for some Barrio Arroyo naturals.
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The origin of Barrio Arroyo, like most of the villages of La Vega, is related to a farmhouse owned by the Arroyo de Peralta family, from which takes the name.
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In the middle of the XIX century, the village had one hundred inhabitants living in about thirty houses, located along the old road from Utiel to El Pontón, in present San Vicente and Norte streets.
Between 1870 and 1940, the number of houses doubled, laying around a new main street that separated perpendicularly San Vicente and Norte strets, and was called La Rambla street -Torrent street-, as that was its origin -a former torrent.
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| The rest of the houses of the village was organized around these main streets, which form an inverted cross.
In 1887, 148 inhabitants were accounted; in 1920 they were 212, and 253 in 1950. After this date, the population has been continuosuly decreasing -139 inhabitants in 1986, 99 in 1996.
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The school was inaugurated in 1931, and the Agricultural Cooperative "Niño Jesús", which is the pride of the village because of its excellent wines, opened in 1964. These red and rosé wines are recognized in and out the region.
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The centre of activity of the village is located in the cross of the main streets, where we can find the Social Club (point of meeting for every neighbour), the recently inaugurated Peseta Memorial, where a collection of old peseta coins seem to integrate into the new Euro currency, sostained by two stones with the name of the countries that made it born.
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The murmur of six water streams, and a pine tree which wants to grow up same as our currency, are going with the monument.
In that centre is where, every odd year, two wooden archs covered with rosemary are built, to lodge the village's Patron Saint, the Christ-child. It stands there from the Easter Saturday to the next monday, when local festivities are celebrated.
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LOCAL FESTIVITIES
CHRIST-CHILD FESTIVITY
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Each odd year, the Christ-child festivities are celebrated. They start in the Easter Saturday with a rosemary collection, and the wooden archs building. An arch is installed in the village centre, and another one in front of the former school, now entitled as a church.
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At dawn of Easter Sunday, the young people of the village go with a music band to San Juan's church to pick the image of the Christ-child, traverse the village with musical ambiance, and left the image under the rosemary arch in the center. After that, a mass is celebrated, and after the priest blesses some kind of flavoured bread, which will be distributed between the people present.
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Then the whole population of the village accompany the Christ-child to the near farmhouse La Manchuela, where an image of the Virgin will be waiting, and the Meeting between Mother and Son is represented. After that, the procession goes with both images back to San Juan's church.
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RIPENESS FESTIVITY
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In the month of August, the Ripeness Festivity and Cultural Week are celebrated, welcoming the next ripeness of the grapes in the vineyards. These try to be some funny and cheerful days for all the neighbours and visitors, with games, music, sports, theater, poetry, almost all organised and performed by people from the own village.
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The end of the festivities consists of a big barbecue for all the neighbours. All this makes this small village of about one hundred inhabitants to be able of celebrate festivities worthy of much bigger towns, with the participation of most of its inhabitants.
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ENVIRONMENT
| In the highest side of the village we can find Threshers' Park, a lovely place full of pine trees, with some small monuments who make people to remember their grandparents. There is also a football ground, some stone tables near a barbecue place. Everything to have a nice day...
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Some far away from the village, is the Pinewood, and La Teja spring, where the vineyards mix with hills full of rosemary and craggy old watercourses... It's traditional to picnic by these places on Easter.
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TYPICAL PRODUCES
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