Villanueva del Fresno is the southernmost town of the district of Olivença and also one of the closest to the Portuguese border, with which it has extensive commercial contacts.

People have lived in the Guadiana Valley since prehistoric times, with Paleolithic and Neolithic traces uncovered.

In 1332, king Alfonso XI gave his mayordomo, Martin Fernandez Portocarrero, extensive lands surrounding the town.

The Tower of Homage was built as an addition to the castle during the fourteenth century, to ensure both the town's defence and this part of the border.

The rebuilt town was designed with broad streets and plot lines which survive to the present day.

Within its municipal area is the farm "High and Low Goat" of 2,688 hectares that the Board of Extremadura expropriated in 1990 from the Duchess of Alba and delivered to commoners from the nearby town of Zahínos.

Wild edible mushrooms are collected in the fields surrounding Villanueva del Fresno, including parasols, gurumelos[4] and boletus edulis.

The carnival starts on the Friday evening before Ash Wednesday with a procession through the streets with people in costumes and disguises 'frightening' anybody they meet.

On Saturday, the big day, again there is an evening procession through the streets to the football stadium where the singing groups congregate.

St. Ginés de la Jara Romeria This festival, celebrating the patron saint of the town, takes place on the first Monday in May.

After that comes the presentation of the prizes for the decorated carriages and when all the religious ceremony has finished the party/picnic begins and lasts well into the night.

Fair and Festival of St. Gínes de la Jara at the end of August, the main day being the 25th.

Before the family meal many people, mostly younger, build bonfires and burn faggots of the dried stems of plants locally called St. Joseph's Wands, (varitas de San José or gamonas).