From the 29th of April to the 1st of May, 2014, the first chapter of the new Province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia, took place at S. Andres de Salamanca, in Salamanca. The new province came into being by decree of the Prior General on the 15th of October, 2013. It is the result of the union of the ancient Provinces of Aragon and Valencia and the Province of Castile. The new Province of Aragon, Castile and Valencia, which has taken St. John of the Cross as its patron, now has houses in Spain, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Argentina.

The history of these provinces goes back to the year 1281, when the “Provincie of “Aragonia seu Hispania” was set up in Spain, from which gradually the other Spanish provinces emerged. The “exclaustration” and the suppression of religious order which took place in 1835 was followed by the restoration of Carmelite life in Spain, in 1890. Spanish Carmelite life continued to flourish, and in 1906 the Province of Aragon and Valencia, and the Province of Betica came into being. The Province of Aragon and Valencia experienced considerable growth throughout the 20th century to the point where it saw the establishment of two new jurisdictions in Spain, the Commissariat of Catalonia in 1932 and the Commissariat of Castile in 1948, both of which later became provinces. We commend this new development of Carmel in Spain to the care of Mary our Mother and Sister.

During the Provincial Chapter the following were elected:

• Prior Provincial:  Fr. Luis Gallardo Ganuza, O.Carm.
• First Councillor:  Fr. Salvador Villota Herrero, O.Carm.
• Second Councillor:  Fr. Desiderio García Martínez, O.Carm.
• Third Councillor:  Fr. Matías Tejerina Espeso O.Carm.
• Fourth Councillor: Fr. Vicente Aranda Guillén, O.Carm.
• Commissary Provincial of the Antilles: Fr. Jorge Rafael Betancourt Ramírez, O.Carm.