Castle of Monterrey

In the early stages of Marshal Soult's Second French invasion of Portugal, the Spanish General La Romana had set up the headquarters of his Army of Galicia, numbering some 9,000 troops, at Monterrey where, at the Battle of Monterrey (6 – 7 March 1809), the French army the routed the Spanish forces.

Soult, having left La Coruña and on his way to invade Portugal, had been unable to cross the Minho river which separates Galicia from Portugal. He had initially planned to do so at Tuy, but the weather conditions were against him, so he headed inland, towards Ourense, to the northeast. Still in Spain, this was the first point where there was a bridge over the river,[5] but Soult knew that before penetrating the Portuguese border he would have to eliminate the threat of the Spanish forces stationed there.[6]

Following the rout of La Romana, Soult stayed on at Monterrey for three days waiting for his rearguard and his convoy of sick to join the main body of his forces,[5] and then crossed the Portuguese frontier between Monterey and Chaves on 9 March,[5] and headed towards Porto, laying siege to Chaves, which he captured on 12 March 1809.[5]

In 2015, the Xunta de Galicia signed a 75-year concession to the network of Paradores de Turismo de España.[7] However, in 2016, the High Court of Justice of Galicia confirmed the annulment of the planning permission the Council of Monterrei had previously given for converting the castle into a hotel.[8][9] It is now a hotel belonging to the network of Paradores.