Arcos de la Polvorosa is a municipality in the province of Zamora, within the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It lies in the northwestern part of the country, in a region characterised by a continental Mediterranean climate and a landscape of plains and gently rolling terrain typical of the Duero basin.
The municipality is small, with a population recorded as 280 inhabitants in the 2004 census conducted by Spain's National Statistics Institute (INE). Like many rural settlements in the province of Zamora, it is a compact village whose demographic profile reflects the broader pattern of depopulation seen across much of inland Castile and León during the twentieth century.
Arcos de la Polvorosa is one of numerous small municipalities that make up the province of Zamora, an area known for its agricultural economy and its concentration of historic Romanesque churches. The town's name, with the element "Polvorosa," distinguishes it from other places in Spain called Arcos, including the better-known Arcos de la Frontera in Andalusia.