Ablitas, an example of adaptation to change

In the place de los Fueros, which closes one of the smaller sides of the rectangle that conforms it, in front of the old county house of the Enríquez de Lacarra, is the old town hall of the town, although overshadowed by the first one. In its external appearance sample an architecture of rural appearance, with imprint of the last reform of the mid-twentieth century.

The date of construction of the town hall is unknown, although stylistically it can be dated to the same time as the aforementioned county house, in the 16th century. The first documented reference letter dates from January 1606, when the plans were presented and the construction was awarded, through an auction, to Juan de Rama, a resident of Tarazona.

In 1645 the chapters of the work of the house of the audience and jail were approved, which was built on the first floor by José Pérez, a neighbor of the same town. Financed by Gaspar Enríquez de Lara y Navarra, the new structure consisted of a floor plan leave and two upper levels, with the staircase located outside the building, towards the corral, in front of the entrance hall of the door of entrance. The walls were made of brick, the main door was carved in ashlar and was 14 spans high. The facade was smooth up to the cornice of the brackets, below the brick eaves, composed of five courses, three borders and two dentils. The entrance hall was of medium stone and the conference room of audience and jail, of brick with plaster. Construction was completed in 1647.

In 1766, Pedro de Rada carried out an enlargement of the old town hall houses. The evaluators José Ruidíez and Esteban Pueyo, master masons from Cascante and Tudela, found the work to be in accordance with the attached plans and specifications, but recommended closing the arches at the ends of the main façade, as they had not been adequately provided for at design.

A month later, the aforementioned Ruidíez was in charge of recognizing the new and old factories as a whole and found that the staircase was very old and lacked sufficient light to walk through it to the new extension. That same day he designed the one that exists today, which was made by Javier de Garbayo, a master mason from Tudela. In addition, the door that opened onto the church street was closed and the conference room meeting room was renovated with a new solium, seats and tables.

Ten years later, the walls and arches of the main access were revised. Tomás Casado, master mason of Ablitas, issued a report that indicated the dangerous state of the exterior wall, located on Church Street, and the ruin of the wall that separated the prison from the dungeon, under the chamber of secrecy. In the repair, the existing door in the old building was removed and a new brick arch was built.

In the mid-19th century, with a more comfortable economic status , several reforms were carried out in the town hall. In 1857, Ángel Sada, a local resident, was awarded a contract to consolidate the building (6,000 reales de vellón), redoing the side wall on Calle de la Iglesia and replacing the roof. A decade later, in view of the precarious state of the building, Julián Arteaga, then municipal architect of Tudela, inspected it and declared it in a state of ruin. The renovation, which contemplated a relative expansion of the built area to accommodate all the required functions, was not undertaken until 1900 due to the economic problems of the regiment.

Apart from some later alterations to the interior, the structure remained practically unchanged until the end of the 80s of the last century, when new needs made it necessary to move, although the old town hall continued to be used as the headquarters of various abliteras associations and as a municipal storeroom , due to its privileged location. The new headquarters, built between 1985 and 1988, cost 25 million pesetas, and has no special historical or architectural relevance.

In 2009, the old town hall was completely refurbished, using almost 140,000 euros from the State Fund for Local Investment. Five years earlier, the progressive deterioration of the building caused the detachment of part of its upper eaves, which fell to the ground without causing any injuries. Among other improvements, three classrooms were fitted out on the second floor of the building and an elevator was installed. The premises of the Municipal Police, the storeroom and the first-aid kit were kept on the leave floor, while the rooms for institutional use were refurbished on the second floor. In 2022 the last remodeling of the building was undertaken, with an investment of almost 40,000 euros. The work focused on the restoration of the façade and all the elements that make it up. With these improvements, the aim was to adapt the building for other uses and to house a tourist information point and other activities.