The Presoneta of Beceite

At the beginning of Villaclosa Street, we find the town hall's market hall, its former main entrance, and the Presoneta. This space, remodeled throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, represented the main entrance to the town's old Arab-Christian castle. The Presoneta was the tower that defended the entrance gate; the arrow slits and the remains of the arch's springing on its façade demonstrate its former defensive purpose.

Located in this now-vanished gateway, with the town hall on the left, the old square on the right, and in front, the street that continued straight ahead to another defensive tower called "La Torreta".

Between the 17th and 19th centuries, this tower lost its defensive purpose, becoming a prison, especially during the First Carlist War. Here, the Carlist general Cabrera imprisoned three liberal women as punishment for the execution of his mother: two of them were shot at Martinet (Valderrobres), and the other was released thanks to the pleas of her father, a Carlist officer from Beceite.

The name Villaclosa Street means "enclosed village." In Beceite, it's known as the Botera neighborhood. Some of these houses face the Plaza, and in the past, all the town's residents had the right of way through them to access the Plaza.