The Stunning Lavender Bloom of Central Spain

Blooming industry

I first learned about Brihuega while studying in the nearby university town of Alcalá de Henares. Craving manchego cheese and jamón Ibérico one afternoon, I stumbled into Vinoteca Esencias del Gourmet, a wine bar. While I feasted on croquetas and cheeses and drank a spicy syrah, the bar owner, Javier Hernandez, told me about his hometown, Brihuega.

For generations, his family was the town churreros, the churro-makers. But like many young people in small Spanish villages, Mr. Hernandez left Brihuega.

“I couldn’t see a future,” he said. He wasn’t alone.

“Brihuega was starting to lose its population,” Luís Viejo Esteban, Brihuega’s current mayor, told me later in an email. “That was the trend before we started developing our socioeconomic model, principally on tourism.”

Now, Brihuega is growing, thanks to its lavender-centered tourism. Last July, during peak bloom, more than 120,000 tourists visited, Mr. Viejo said. Lavender annually generates between 4 to 6.5 million euros, roughly $4.3 to $7 million, according to a study from the University of Alcalá de Henares and Fadeta, a local rural development group.

“If you told me 10 years ago that, thanks to lavender, there would be so much tourism, that so many shops would open, so many restaurants, I wouldn’t believe you,” Mr. Corral said. “We’re just farmers. We live off the land and live for the land.”