Enjoy our detailed tourism guide and overview of the region of Extremadura, an undiscovered gem west of Madrid and bordering Portugal.
This guide to Extremadura has been written by a regular contributor to our website, Martyn Swan, of Extremacasa estate agents.
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For 30 years, I built businesses with one goal in mind: the finish line. Like many, I pictured the classic dream—moving to Spain, soaking up the sun, and finally switching off. But now that I’m here, I’ve started questioning everything.Watch the video below and let me know in the comments: are you ready to retire or reinvent instead?
A few years ago I was living near Cádiz on the Costa de la Luz. I had made the break from U.K., wound down my business there, started another one here and was enjoying the Spanish lifestyle.
But the area started getting popular with foreign buyers and while I enjoy English newspapers and English beer as much as the next person I did not want to live in a British expat community.
Although nothing like as bad as my days on the M25, the traffic was nevertheless getting busier so I decided it was time to move further inland in search of the real Spanish way of life.
I had heard of Extremadura but like most foreigners (and, it turns out, most Spaniards) I knew nothing about the region. I had heard vague rumours that it was a land of extremes, unbearably hot in summer and freezing cold in the winter, or at least that’s what the name suggested.
But I decided to see for myself. I drove up round the Seville ring road, through the beautiful Sierra de Aracena and soon found myself at the border and crossed into Extremadura.
I have to say my first impressions were not that great. I was struck by the absence of cars and people and while the countryside was pleasant enough it did seem rather flat and uninteresting to me, so I pushed on towards Zafra.
Here things changed considerably. The countryside became more beautiful and rustic and there were hills to break up the skyline and, to my surprise, a huge lake or two.
As I crossed the river Guadiana at the historic Roman town of Mérida I found myself in another world; a world of traditional Spanish living and customs, with hardly any foreigners, very few tourists outside of the main towns and above all a land of glorious countryside, and much greener than I was expecting.
I saw birds I couldn’t recognise and stork nests everywhere and many animals grazing on the pastures – sheep, cattle, goats, and black pigs.
And the weather was like a beautiful summer day in England (this was late March). Where, I wondered, were the extremes?
I soon learnt that the name Extremadura simply means the land at the end of the river Douro and has nothing to do with extremes of any sort.
Watch this must-see video to see footage of Extremadura – you won’t believe this is part of Spain – so different to what you would typically expect…
Where is Extremadura?
Extremadura is an autonomous region of Spain and consists of two provinces; Badajoz (Spain’s largest) to the south and Cáceres (the 2nd largest) to the north.
Extremadura is a very large region; roughly the size of Switzerland or the Netherlands, but it is very sparsely populated with only a little over a million inhabitants, roughly a quarter of who live in the three main towns – Badajoz, Cáceres and Mérida.
Badajoz
Situated close to the Portuguese border, Badajoz is the most populated city in Extremadura with approximately 150,000 people.
Because of its geographic location it originally gained prosperity through its links with Portugal but it has been the subject of bloody conflict over the years, including in 1812 when Arthur Wellesley (the future Duke of Wellington) successfully stormed the city. Today it is the administrative capital of Badajoz province.
Cáceres
Originally founded by the Romans in 25 BC, Cáceres was declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1986 because of the great mix of cultures that can be found in the town. A perfectly preserved medieval old town (Ciudad Monumental) looks exactly as it did hundreds of years ago and many films have been made here.
Cáceres was a candidate for the European City of Culture in 2016.
Mérida
If you had been a successful centurion in the Roman Army, Mérida is where you would have gone to retire after your years of fighting across Europe; it was one of the most important cities in the Roman Empire. There are more Roman monuments here than in any other part of Spain and the town was designated a World Heritage site in 1993.
Today Mérida is the capital of Extremadura.
