Between Madrid and Lisbon, Extremadura in Spain is full of history, empty of tourists – Merida, Caceres and Guadalupe are must-sees
From exploring Roman ruins and climbing up medieval towers to scoffing down plates of the famed local ham, a trip to Extremadura reveals a side of Spain often lost in the busy cities, with rarely a tour group ever in sight
The flamenco strains were so haunting that I asked the quintet of 20-somethings playing guitars on the doorstep of a massive, whitewashed, centuries-old church if I could listen for a spell.
“Sure. Want a sip?” one replied, offering the litrona – a quarter-gallon bottle of beer – they were sharing. Then they went back to jamming, their notes echoing up the steep, narrow lane in Caceres, one of the most monument-filled, tourist-empty cities in the Iberian Peninsula.
Caceres is a highlight of Extremadura, a Spanish region of vast sun-parched landscapes and untouched historical jewels exactly halfway between the ever-more-crowded capitals of Madrid and Lisbon, Portugal.
I recently spent a weekend there exploring Roman ruins, climbing up medieval towers and scoffing down plates of the famed local ham without seeing one tour group.
I travelled mostly on comfortable public buses that rolled through hills studded with olive and oak trees, past fortified towns and palm-fringed farms, stopping to pick up schoolchildren returning home and elderly couples going to market.
