Sheraton Santa Maria de El Paular - Rascafria - History
The origin of the village dates back to the Middle Ages and is linked to the repopulation of the mountain range carried out by gangs from Segovia. El Valle was a free territory that was annexed by the municipality of Segovia, with King's blessing, by a system of charters and ordinances. These documents forced all that acquired land in the Valley to build a house and have their own horses.
In the fourteenth century the Charter House of El Paular was founded, two kilometres from Rascafría, in amongst pine and oak forests. Ancient palaces and hunting lodges of Juan I, along with the land around them and other income were donated to the Carthusian Order. The new community was founded in 1391, but work was not completed until the fifteenth century. In these years the monastery had accumulated new properties and privileges. Since the founding of the monastery the history of the Valley and especially of Rascafría, was linked to that of the monastery.
Rascafría was a place of royal ownership, belonging to the Community of Villa y Tierra of Segovia, to whose jurisdiction it was subject, but there exists very little information of the municipality in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The only outstanding buildings from this period are the parish church of San Andres and La Casona, residential complex with orchard and garden.
In the eighteenth century (1751) Rascafría was inhabited by 206 residents. Its economy was focused on livestock, mainly sheep. Numerous fields were complemented with some irrigated crops, fruit trees and some wheat, rye and flax. But the severe damage caused to crops by animals from the hunting grounds of the Royal Forest of Valsaín impoverished inhabitants who little by little devoted themselves to the business of timber, transporting the goods to the Court. The village had two flour mills, a tavern, a butcher shop, an inn and a hospital.
Following the provincial restructuring, conducted in 1833, Rascafría became part of the province of Madrid. Throughout the century the population slowly increased, reaching the 260 neighbours and 1,040 inhabitants in 1888. The economy was still based on livestock, but late in the century there had been some industrial development. They operated a paper mill with 30 or 40 workers, a glass factory, three flour mills and several sawmills, the most important of these was the Sociedad Belga de los Pinares de El Paular, founded in 1855. Also in that century began to renovate the local architecture by replacing some traditional agricultural buildings for new construction of a more urban character.
In the twentieth century the population remained stable (around 1,100 people), although there were some variations in across the decades. In 1975 the core of Oteruelo was annexed to the Rascafría Valley. Along with traditional economic activities, farming and logging, in recent years rural tourism has emerged, which constitutes a major part of the labour market, both in summer and winter, thanks to the possibility of skiing in Valdesquí.