In 1581, the Spaniards moved the capital of the Alcaldia of Panay 12 kilometers west of Oton. The area was named as “La Villa de Arevalo” by Gonzalo Ronquillo in honor of his hometown.

Arevalo is the first site and the very first town in the country to bear the name of a Spanish town. About a hundred kilometers away from Madrid, Spain is “Villa de Arevalo” in Avila, which is almost the same as the Arevalo district of Iloilo.

la villa de arevalo iloilo

Fresh blooms of different variety adorn the front yards of quaint homes in “La Villa de Arevalo.” Locally called as just “Arevalo” or “Villa”, it is dubbed as the flower capital of Iloilo. Arevalo is the choice of buyers for supplies of leis, corsages, wreaths, bouquets and potted plants, because of the number of flower gardens in the district.