Click here for map of Badajoz

Evidence of a violent past is everywhere in the province of Badajoz. Castles appear, powerful reminders of endless culture clashes, like carbuncles on just about every hillside. Defensive walls rear menacingly above white-washed houses that cluster, like day-old chicks under the wings of a proud swan, around their bases and spill down hillsides, white skirts of relief under an unforgiving summer sun.

The province is bordered by Cáceres, Toledo, Ciudad Real, Córdoba, Sevilla, Huelva and Portugal.

The history of Badajoz is as spectacular as the countryside that stretches endless from horizon to horizon and that can be seen in all its majesty from such privileged view points as Puebla de Alcocer.

Its past is littered with all the ingredients of a block-buster film: ambition, greed, love, rebellion, war, siege and relief and, with its active participation in the discovery of the New World, the fame of its principal characters has been spread over the world.

Archaeological discoveries in the area place early habitation of the area in the Palaeozoic. Numerous dolmens and other burial remains are found near Toriñuelo and Brovales.

With the decline of the Roman Empire, the Visigoths established a brief foothold in Spain. It was during this period that the oldest known Christian church in Spain was consecrated. The discovery of a marble column in the church of Santa Maria in Jerez de los Caballeros places it on the 25 December of the year 556.

With the sudden and devastating arrival of the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula, Badajoz was converted into part of a Muslim Empire that stretched from the eastern to the western Mediterranean.

The Emirate of Badajoz came into existence when, like the other Moorish kingdoms of Spain, the Al-Andaluz project fragmented in the late 900s. The date given for its establishment as an independent Arabic state is 1031.

Independence led to envy and the Emirate of Badajoz was invaded on many occasions. Hostilities were engaged with not only neighbouring states but also with the fundamentalist Almoravid and Almohad Arabic factions that arrived in distinct waves on Spanish shores.

The Portuguese briefly held the capital Badajoz between 1169 and 1170 but it was finally captured by Castille in 1127.

During the Middle Ages the province was subject to many changes of political leadership. It was beleaguered by Portugal in the mid-1600s and during the Peninsula War, when Napoleon imposed a puppet ruler on the Spanish throne; Badajoz was attacked and annexed by the French. It became a focal point in the ensuing war for independence from the French yoke with the capital city coming under siege by British and Spanish troops commanded by Wellington in 1812.

Modern Badajoz is a vibrant and bustling community offering the visitor a wide spectrum of activities, sights and flavours that describe its pure love of life.

Regeneration from the ravages of the Franco years has led to many of the cities and villages finding new leases of life, facing the future whilst retaining the best features of the past.

Nowadays you can visit hundreds of charming villages, stay in some of the best and charming of rural hotels and experience some of the most excellent gastronomy that is on offer in the Iberian Peninsula.

There are many ‘routes’ that can be followed to experience a particular aspect of the province, from the ‘cheese route’ to the ‘ham route’ to the route of castles. Routes that present the Arabic and Jewish heritage are of particular interest.

And to enhance the experience, hundreds of miles of well prepared countryside walks have been prepared that present the singular natural beauty of the province up close.