Welcome to Española!
The City of Española is the southernmost point of the Española Valley on the Rio Grande.
Española is situated at the border of Rio Arriba and Santa Fe Counties. It sits halfway between Santa Fe and Taos, and 30 minutes from Los Alamos. The city itself is bordered by the centuries-old Santa Clara and Ohkay Owingeh Pueblos, the original peoples of this land.
Española was the original capital of the first European settlement in the United States. Originally called San Gabriel, it was settled in 1598 in the Yungue Uingue (Ohkay Owingeh) Pueblo near the joining of the Rio Chama and Rio Grande. It was here that the first Spanish settlement of Nuevo Mexico was established at the end Camino Real trade route traversing the route from Mexico to Ohkay Owingeh.
The Española Valley honors and supports cultural diversity, blending its roots of Hispanic and Native American cultures to create a rich tapestry of traditions and distinctive cuisine. It seamlessly blends the old and the new, with ancient pueblo architecture, colonial churches, historic cultural sites, New and Old Mexican restaurants, and modern breweries and wineries.
