Arévalo is a town in the province of Ávila, in the autonomous community of Castile and León, with approximately 8,000 inhabitants. After the death of her father in 1454, Isabel moved with her mother and her younger brother Alfonso from Madrigal de las Altas Torres to Arévalo. During that turbulent period, the town offered a more easily defensible location, which was important because of the tensions between powerful noble families and the power vacuum that had arisen after the death of King Juan II.

In present‑day Arévalo, several places can still be seen that recall her presence, both from her childhood and later as queen. The Plaza de la Villa, with the Casa de los Sexmos, was the centre of festivities and important events. On the Plaza del Real stood the Casas Reales, where Isabel stayed whenever she was in Arévalo. In El Arrabal were the markets that she declared exempt from taxes. The monastery of San Francisco played a role because of the presence of influential monks and because it served for a time as a royal burial place. In the monastery of La Trinidad, the Virgen de las Angustias was venerated, a devotion that Isabel helped spread further from Arévalo.

The castle of Arévalo primarily served a military function. It is often mistakenly regarded as the building where Isabel lived, but the conversion into an artillery fortress was initiated by Isabel herself in the final years of her life. Later, between 1578 and 1596, Filips Willem van Oranje‑Nassau — the eldest son of Willem van Oranje — was held prisoner here.

Arévalo is also known for its cochinillo. This dish is made with suckling pig roasted until the skin turns crispy and the meat remains tender. The piglets, known in Spanish as tostas, come from local breeders in Arévalo and its surroundings. They are fed exclusively on their mother’s milk, grow freely in the fields of the region, and nourish themselves in a completely natural way. The best‑known place to eat cochinillo or tostón is El Figón de Arévalo, but Desirée Asador Casa Felipe and Asador La Posada are also excellent options.

The name Arévalo comes from the Celtic arevalon, meaning “the place by the wall”. The city lies at an altitude of 820 metres, at the confluence of the Adaja and Arevalillo rivers. Arévalo is known as la ciudad de cinco linajes and played a strategic role in the Middle Ages because of its location between the two rivers.