Extremadura autonomous region in central Spain,
on the border with Portugal.
It was established as an autonomous region in 1983
by the statute of autonomy. The towns of the region
have quite few monuments and historical places to see as well as offering pretty
good shops and few hiking path in the south. While the population is
concentrated in a few large towns in the province of Badajoz the province of Caceres
is characterised by small villages situated in valleys.
A tableland crossed by mountains and by the Tagus
(Tajo) and Guadiana rivers, it comprises the provinces of Badajoz and CAceres.
Much of it is poverty-ridden, with poor communications, absentee landlordism,
and steady emigration. Wine, olive oil, and cereals are produced through dry
farming. Elsewhere, the more rugged terrain serves as winter grazing land for
sheep from Castile and Leon; hogs are also raised in large numbers. Re-conquered
from the Moors in the 12th and 13th cent., the region was frequently a
battlefield in the Spanish wars with Portugal and again in the Peninsular War.
Most of Extremadura fell to the Nationalists early in the Spanish civil war. The
conquistadors Pizarro and Cortes were born there.
History and different social, political and economic circumstances were what
excluded Extremadura from the process of industrialisation and development that
has taken place in Europe and Spain over the last two centuries. The best
contribution that we Extremadurans made to the industrial revolution were the
million emigrants that had to leave our region to find work.
This is one of the most beautiful, and perhaps least known, regions of
Interior Spain. Its beautiful cities, first Roman and Moorish, then medieval and
aristocratic, gave birth to many of the conquistadors.
Caceres is the capital of Upper Extremadura. Its Old
Quarter, ringed by old Moorish walls and superb watchtowers, has been maintained
intact since the Golden Age, occupied solely by magnificent palaces and mansions
from the 16th and 17th centuries.
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