In a small Madrid municipality located in the Las Vegas Shire have been cultivated for centuries best melons in Spain, those greens, native to the land and delicious on the palate. Because in the town, its farmers are specialists in the constant care of a product that we can already enjoy in summer. Although the most authentic melon of toad and owl It is collected at the end of August, until well into Christmas they can be eaten, being the azul one of the last to bring from field to table. Here we will tell you the whole story surrounding a fruit that constitutes the main economic activity in Rabbitville.
The legend of the melon in Villaconejos
In an area of marked agricultural tradition, the best melons in Spain They have been bred for a long time in fertile lands with soft landscapes and orchards. Those that continue to be watered by the tagus river next to its tributaries -the Tajuña and the Jarama-. The town of Villaconejos (with less than 4.000 inhabitants) is located in the southeast of the Community of Madrid, bordering tourist villages such as Aranjuez or Chinchón. Although his name immediately invites us to think about CONEJOS -Since hunting is another of the main activities that have been maintained since ancient times- the star product is melon.
That juicy and sweet delicacy that has some differentiating characteristics of other Spanish melons. But that, in addition, has a curious legend. The same account that these already popular fruits reached the remote Madrid municipality through a Zeluan soldier, a city in Morocco. From the African lands they would land in Villaconejos the first seeds, wrapped in a cloth, to be buried with the aim of starting the melon tradition in the town. The fame of these fruits there started at the end of the XNUMXth century and the beginning of the XNUMXth. So wrote the historian Federico Bravo Morata in one of his books.
How are these best melons from Spain?
With nutritional properties very interesting thanks to the high content of calcium, potassium, fiber, zinc, vitamin C and vitamin B, the best melons in Spain that grow in said municipality enjoy the label High Gastronomic Quality. If they are compared with other nationals, they stand out for several key aspects. The first of these is the size-weight of each unit, less than the hybrid, so that it usually weighs about two and a half kilos.
On the other hand, it contains lots of water and very little bark. In addition, if its exterior color is appreciated, it is a darker green. It also has little stripe. Although we cannot forget another fundamental characteristic of this type of melon: the harvest season (late August).
Even with Fiesta and Museum of melon
Despite being considered as fruit, melon is really a vegetable from the cucumber, squash and zucchini family. It is enough to contemplate its appearance to realize this detail that can go unnoticed. Of said fruit there are more than 800 varieties that are born from a creeping plantCucumis), although roughly they are classified into three types: green or toad skin, cantalagus and yellow. Of course, the most famous variety in Villaconejos It is the first one mentioned, which is even kept for many months.
Such is the popularity of the product in the municipality that the conejeros celebrate the Melon Festival on October 12, coinciding with Columbus Day. A celebration that exalts the melon culture Madrid in the area to remember that distant time when producers were looking for the most excellent land to cultivate.
But here the tribute does not end, which is maintained throughout the year inside the Melon Museum, the only one in the world dedicated exclusively to said fruit. Photographs, utensils and other implements that farmers used in the past for harvesting can be seen on tourist visits. In addition to knowing in detail all the growth process, from the burial of the seed to the harvest.
If you want to discover more about these best melons in Spain, you just have to travel to Villaconejos, authentic melon land. A fruit widely consumed in our country, where we lead in Europe with 10,5 kilos per capita per year. As if that were not enough, we are the third world producer of this food. Enjoy this summer!
