Surrounded by walls, at 993 metres above sea level, is the village of Mirambel. It is a place where time seems to have stopped, where the visitor will find tranquillity and calm, ideal to relax and stroll at leisure through its streets. Its 130 inhabitants, proud of their past, work to build a future linked to tourism and traditional agricultural and livestock activities.

Reconquered from the Arabs around 1169 by Alfonso II, the history of Mirambel remained closely linked to that of the different military orders that were responsible for the management of a good part of the Maestrazgo Turolense. In 1157, King Alfonso II granted Mirambel 'fueros,' or special privileges, and in 1234 the Master of the Order of the Temple granted it the 'Carta Puebla,' the document that regulated relations between the community of inhabitants and the lords of the Order of the Temple. When the order of the Temple was suspended by papal mandate, the Cantavieja commendation passed entirely to the order of St. John of Jerusalem in 1314, a situation that endured until the middle of the nineteenth century.

Subsequently, Mirambel was circumscribed as part of the administrative region of Montalbán (1446), that of Teruel (1488-1495), the newly defined administrative territory of Teruel (1646) and the district of Alcañiz (1711-1833). In 1834, it was constituted as a Town Council and integrated into the jurisdiction of Castellote, to pass in 1965 to that of Alcañiz.

Its history goes hand in hand with that of the entire Maestrazgo, such that, after the disappearance of the Order of the Temple, it would pass into the hands of the Order of San Juan del Hospital, beginning a period of domination that was to last five hundred years. The sixteenth and seventeenth centuries correspond to a time of splendour in the civil architecture of the Maestrazgo, with numerous examples of palaces and stately homes in Renaissance style belonging to the local nobility who had made their fortunes with the wool trade.

Another important moment in the history of Mirambel is the nineteenth century, when the entire region suffered the onslaught of the Carlist Wars of the Maestrazgo. In the face of the military might of General Cabrera and his troops in Cantavieja, Mirambel became the administrative and political capital via with the creation of the Superior Governing Board of the Kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia and Murcia, following the passage of the pretender to the throne, Don Carlos, and his entourage through the area. The printing press for all the proclamations and circulars along with the Official Bulletin of the Carlist Army was for a few months located in a stately home on the main street and then in the castle. The population was deeply scarred by the burning of their Church by the Carlist leader the Serrador, one of the bloodiest episodes of the war.

In 1980, Mirambel was declared a Historic-Artistic Site for being a "town full of history, its walled enclosure and remarkable buildings preserved in their entirety, along with the medieval atmosphere and appearance" and, the following year, it was awarded the Gold Medal of the Europa Nostra award for urban restoration and planning, awarded in person by Queen Sofia.

Mirambel has inspired many artists and writers. In 1931, Pío Baroja wrote “La venta de Mirambel” drawing on the stories and legends he collected during his stay in the town.

In 1995, the writer Anton Castro published “El testamento de amor de Patricio Julve”, a collection of stories about impossible passions, among which we find stories set in Mirambel. The composer Antón García Abril, from Teruel, found inspiration here when composing his work, “Preludios de Mirambel”.

There is no doubt that Mirambel resembles a movie set evocative of times gone by… This aspect has not gone unnoticed by directors. In 1986, the town was transformed for a film shoot for the first time, forming the backdrop to various scenes from the series “Clase media,” directed by Vicente Amadeo and starring, among others, Charo López, Antonio Resines and Antonio Ferrandis. Ten years later, in 1996, the chapel of the Masía de la Torre Santa Ana - a beautiful farmhouse in the area surrounding the town - was used to shoot scenes of “In Praise of Older Women” by Manuel Lombardero, featuring Faye Dunaway, Imanol Arias and Rosana Pastor. But the one that has undoubtedly brought most fame to the area was the filming, in 1994, of “Land and Freedom” by Ken Loach, starring Iciar Bollain, Rosana Pastor and Ian Hart. This film transformed Mirambel for a month and left a deep mark on its inhabitants, who participated in one way or another in the film. You can visit the various sites used in the film thanks to a specially designed trail.