Apr 23, 2013

Come to the biggest cheese fair in Spain Every year Extremadura celebrates cheese in a big way. The venue for the cheese extravaganza is the city more famous for its New World Conquistadores — Trujillo. The Plaza Mayor, one of the largest and most picturesque in Europe, is covered in hundreds of stands devoted to the very best in local and national cheeses....

Mar 9, 2013

Join the “Cherries in Flower” walk in Extremadura Cherries! Round and plump, deep red and glossy, sun-ripened and warm, juicy and delicious. Who doesn’t love cherries and who doesn’t know that the world’s best cherries come from the Jerte Valley? To find this special place look at the map of Extremadura and find Plasencia, a beautiful and...

Mar 7, 2013

Gisela Radant Wood, the woman who does know how to read maps! by Sara Fontán and first published in Spanish Sierra de Gata digital 02/03/2013 Walking in Extremadura, recently published and available online, is an essential book for the rural tourism business of our sierra.  The book captures, for the first time, and from the pen of an islander from Great...

Feb 4, 2013

WON Walking in Extremadura by Gisela Radant-Woods See JJ the Books4Spain cat pick the winner of Walking in Extremadura In the far west of Spain, Extremadura is one of Spain’s hidden jewels with fabulous palaces, churches and monasteries, many of which remain well preserved to this day and is one of the greatest regions in Spain for scenery and flora...

Jan 29, 2013

Walk to Yuste Monastery in Extremadura on 2 February Spaniards like to walk. The evening paseo, in which everyone able to walk usually participates, is world-famous. There is a long tradition of walking in Extremadura; historically it was the only way to get anywhere. Getting around the area is easier and quicker these days as cars travel on new roads mainly...

Jan 18, 2013

The Bread & Cheese Fiesta of Zarza de Montanchez (Caceres, Extremadura) Date: 19 January Although the ubiquitous Moors are once again alleged to be at the origin of this fiesta, it bears the unmistakable signs of a much older rite.  One is told that it commemorates a bloody battle waged in 1234 which liberated the region from the Moors at a great cost of...

Jan 1, 2013

Marching Spain by V. S. Pritchett Review by Paddy Waller I first read Marching Spain, a classic of Spanish travel writing, when I was young and  keen for adventure and along with Gerald Brenan’s “South from Granada” and Laurie Lee’s as “As I Walked Out One Summer Morning” it is one of the books that most inspired me to visit and above all walk in...

Nov 26, 2012

Extremadura Common Crane Festival Extremadura in Spain is the main wintering area for those European Common Cranes that follow the westerly migration route.  Some 80,000 cranes choose Extremadura to spend the winter, 30-40% of the Western European population and more than half of the Spanish population, estimated at slightly more than 150,000 Common Cranes. An...