Estremadura

Estremadura is a huge, dry region, void of people and industry. The landscape is varied and expansive, big enough for the imagination to roam as if across a new and empty continent. Hot, hoarse winds blow chaff and dust through the clean air and vast fields of wheat stretch beneath peerless blue skies to the high sierras of Tentudia, barely visible in a shimmering watery haze. Plains of parchment-yellow grass are studded with thirsty olives; gaunt, heat emaciated cattle shelter their bony, boot polished forms beneath eucalyptus trees or graze at the meagre lips of precious watering holes; the occasional mule stands stone still in a field. The scale of it all is somehow liberating; a land big enough for storks and eagles to soar, while at ground level starch white egrets pick the fields.

Strangely, its most dramatic features are its huge lakes, fed by the rivers Tagus and Guadiana, which lie bounded by dark craggy rocks, appearing like water filled canyons, great seams of dark water forging their way through this otherwise dry, dusty landscape. Along with agriculture they form one of the region's prime assets, irrigating the lower plains of Badajoz and providing hydroelectric power.

Estremadura reaches from La Vera to the Sierra de Tentudia, from Toledo to Cuidad Real, and is formed by the two provinces of Badajoz and Caceres. The whole region is off the tourist trail, visited in the main by travellers heading for Portugal, yet it has some fine historic sites: Merida (the small capital) has some superb Roman remains, while Caceres. is the conquistador town par excellence. Under development has real advantages; this is a place where traditions are still enjoyed to the full, particularly those involving food and drink, and where some of Spain's greatest historic sites can be enjoyed free from mass commercialism.

Estremadura Hotels

Hospederia Convento de la Parra - Santa Maria, 16 La Parra 06176 Spain
Finca Santa Marta - Pago San Clemente Por la carretera de Guadalupe Trujillo 10200 Spain
Parador de Guadalupe - Marques de la Romana 12 Guadalupe Caceres 10140 Spain
Melia Merida Boutique Hotel - Plaza España 19 Merida 06800 Spain
Melia Trujillo - Plaza Del Campillo 1 Trujillo 10200 Spain
Parador de Zafra - Plaza Corazon de Maria 7 Zafra 06300 Spain
Parador de Caceres - Calle Ancha, 6 Caceres 10001 Spain
Parador de Plasencia - Pza. San Vicente Ferrer, s/n Plasencia 10600 Spain
Hotel Rocamador - Ctra. Nacional Badajoz - Huelva km. 41 Badajoz 6160 Spain
Huerta Honda - López Asme 30 Zafra 06300 Spain
Hotel Victoria - Plaza del Campillo 22 Trujillo Spain
Hotel Velada Merida - Avda. Princesa Sofia s/n Merida 06800 Spain
Tryp Medea Hotel - Avda De Portugal s/n Merida 06800 Spain
Hotel Badajoz Center - Avda Damian Tellez Lafuente S/N Badajoz 06010 Spain