The origin of our surname is closely tied to the Reconquista era, and more specifically, to the 3 infanzones who accompanied Alfonso XI in the reconquest of the town that currently bears their name, as reflected below:

After taking possession of it (the current town of LUQUE) in 1240, Fernando III, it was retaken by the Muslims, who called it Albenzaide, until it was reconquered by Alfonso XI in 1347. In this final reconquest, the brothers Luis, Alonso, and Antón, surnamed Luque, intervened, and by royal concession, the name of the noble who conquered it was imposed.

The aforementioned knight Don Antón, called “Lengua araviga,” settled there. His descendants spread to other towns in the same province, such as Cabra, Castro del Río, Montemayor, Lucena, Montilla, and La Rambla, eventually extending across the entire Iberian Peninsula. Heraldic of the Kingdoms and Lordships of Spain.

To learn a bit about the origin of these Noble Knights or Infanzones, we can cite the following:

“The LUQUE family descends from the Goths, from where their sons moved to the mountains of León, always distinguished as Noble Knights and Sons of Noble Blood, House, and Estate.” Licenciado Frias de Albornos (Manuscript Nobility, Folio 93)

Along with this warrior tradition of our ancestors, we have always been linked to agriculture and the countryside, and we can confirm that as early as the 17th century (10th generation ago), our ancestor D. Juan Andrés de Luque Repiso, descendant of the aforementioned knight, was in charge of over 2,000 aranzadas of olive trees in the Castro del Río area (including the Santa Sofía and Calabaza estates, still cultivated by our family today), as well as 1,200 fanegas of calm land (Senda, Cazalillas, Chotón, Galloso, and others). He also owned a mill (Molino de La Dehesilla, 1680) where he milled the harvest for his own consumption and that of the nobles in the area.

His son, D. Andrés de Luque Repiso, requested in 1749 his ancestry and certification of nobility and coat of arms, which was confirmed by Don Ramón Zazo y Ortega, chronicler and King of Arms Numerary, Universal in two of the Kingdoms and Lordships of the Catholic Majesty of Lord Don Carlos III, King of Spain and Emperor of the Americas. This certification allowed him to begin as an official supplier to the Royal House and the Royal Armies stationed in the New World.

His great-grandson, Don Pedro Luque Urbano, was the one who most notably advanced our work in the olive oil sector, founding the Molino de La Corredera in 1850. His grandson, José Luque Jiménez, took the advice given by his grandfather and moved in the early 19th century to the Molino de Florentino Sotomayor, located on Los Molinos Street, where the family continued milling until the Civil War.

During the war period and the years that followed, the olive oil production continued at a traditional mill, called Molino San Juan, owned by the Serrano family.

As a result of this relationship, the founder of Alcubilla, Oleocultura, and Aceites La Mata, José Antonio Luque Serrano, was born. After several years working as general director for the leading Spanish company in the olive oil sector, José Antonio Luque decided to acquire the traditional mill (the old Ramiro mill, 1874) in 1992, which currently houses the OLEOCULTURA museum-restaurant, and recover the LUQUE family’s olive oil tradition. For two years, milling was done at this mill using the traditional press and capacho system, and later, modern facilities for Aceites La Mata (conventional olive oil) were built.

In this way, we can say that after several centuries of olive-growing and olive oil production activity, the culture, tradition, and secrets of producing true olive oil in its most authentic sense have been passed down to us.

For our part, the new generation has recovered the traditional way of caring for the olive grove, much more environmentally friendly, transforming it entirely into Organic Farming.

It was in 1989 when we began organic cultivation of our olive groves under the control and certification of the emerging CRAE (Regulatory Committee of Organic Agriculture), being pioneers in this production system for olive groves in Spain.

During the first 10 years, we developed organic olive cultivation in our region, and in February 1999, the olive mill Alcubilla 2,000 S.L. (now LUQUE ECOLOGICO, S.L.) was founded, with the intention of milling exclusively olives from organic farming.

Currently, our goal is to help spread Organic Farming and increase the range of organic products under the “LUQUE” brand.