Extremadura is a vast autonomous community in western Spain, on the border with Portugal, between Castile and Andalusia. With just over a million people across more than 41,000 km², it is one of the least populated regions in Europe and long remained far from mass tourism. That is exactly why it keeps almost intact art cities and extraordinary nature, with the dehesas, wooded pastures of cork and holm oaks where black Iberian pigs are raised.
The land of the conquistadors
Many of the conquistadors who built Spain's American empire in the sixteenth century came from Extremadura: Francisco Pizarro, conqueror of Peru, and Francisco de Orellana, the first European to navigate the Amazon, were from Trujillo; Hernán Cortés, conqueror of Mexico, was from Medellín; Pedro de Valdivia, founder of Chile, from Villanueva de la Serena. The wealth brought from the Americas paid for the coat-of-arms-adorned mansions of their home towns (see the Spanish Empire).
The cities
- Mérida, the capital, was founded by the Romans in 25 BC as Emerita Augusta and was capital of Lusitania: its archaeological ensemble, a UNESCO site, is one of the most important in Spain, with the Roman theatre, which hosts a classical theatre festival in summer, the amphitheatre, the bridge over the Guadiana and the superb National Museum of Roman Art designed by Rafael Moneo.
- Cáceres, with its walled medieval and Renaissance old town, a UNESCO site, full of towers, mansions and storks' nests.
- Trujillo, with its grand Plaza Mayor, the equestrian statue of Pizarro and the castle.
- Badajoz, a border city with an Arab Alcazaba, and Olivenza, Portuguese until 1801.
- Plasencia, with two cathedrals, gateway to the Jerte valley.
Guadalupe and nature
The Royal Monastery of Santa María de Guadalupe, a UNESCO site, is one of Spain's most important shrines: its Black Virgin became patron of the lands conquered in America, and the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe is named after it. Among the finest landscapes are Monfragüe National Park, one of Europe's best places to watch vultures, imperial eagles and black storks; the Jerte valley, covered in late March with millions of cherry trees in bloom; the Vera and Ambroz valleys and the Sierra de Gata.
Flavours
Extremadura produces some of Spain's best Iberian hams, under the Dehesa de Extremadura appellation, Torta del Casar, a creamy sheep's cheese eaten with a spoon, smoked paprika (pimentón de la Vera), Jerte cherries and dishes of game, lamb and migas.
Getting there
Extremadura is linked to Madrid by train and bus (a new high-speed line is partly in service between Plasencia, Mérida and Badajoz), and Badajoz has a small airport. It is a short distance from Lisbon and Portugal's Alentejo. Below you will find a map of our guides and the municipalities.
Destinations on the map
Guides to the community
Badajoz
A border city on the Guadiana river, with one of Spain's largest Arab fortresses and Portugal minutes away.
Cáceres
One of Europe's best-preserved medieval cities: noble towers, palaces of golden stone and storks' nests, a set for period films and series.
Mérida
Spain's "little Rome": a two-thousand-year-old theatre where Greek and Latin tragedies are still performed every summer.
Olivenza
A Spanish town that still speaks with a Portuguese accent: azulejos, Manueline churches and a border disputed for over two centuries.
Trujillo
A granite town on an Extremadura hilltop, from which the conquerors of Peru set out and where their palaces still tell of the gold of the…