General information on Extremadura - Spain’s "Wild West".

by Hendrik Berends, 2005, All Rights reserved.

Introduction

Some Europeans interested in Spain, for their own place in the sun or as an alternative full-time residence, are realizing that living on a Costa in a 'foreign enclave' is not their cup of tea. There, the real Spain seems to have been cemented over. By now there is a noticeable tendency to explore Spain's interior as a good alternative to live -even work- in the sun. People are looking to buy a Spanish property at an affordable price and to integrate into Spanish society. In 1994 I retired from the stresses of an international executive living and working in many countries, and chose to live in a small village between Sevilla and Huelva, in south-western Spain. Later, keeping active as a consultant for a European Union export subsidy program for small- to medium-sized Spanish firms, I discovered Extremadura, some 200 to 250 kilometres to the North. From 1998 on I worked throughout this region, falling in love with its huge wide-open spaces, untouched, spectacular nature and welcoming population.

Infrastructure

By now, Extremadura's infrastructure has largely been completed due to years of massive EU development funding, with fabulous roads and motorways, but little traffic. Broadband Internet connections are available throughout. Then there is the high speed AVE (TGV) train that within a few years shall run from Madrid to Lisbon, with various stops in Extremadura. The A-66 North-South motorway from Salamanca to Sevilla is also fast nearing completion, with large tracts of it already opened up.

Name

The name Extremadura comes from the Roman 'Extremo Duero' which means "on the far side of the river Duero/Douro", which described the Roman Empire’s frontier at the time.

Climate

By now, more than 200 water and hydro-electric reservoirs, some of them among the largest in Europe, have been built. Nautical sports are still in their infancy, a definite growth industry. In older tourist info one finds mention of Extremadura's 'hot, arid climate'. However, that climate has changed, due to the large bodies of water that were created. Extremadura enjoys a dry and salubrious land climate, reaching the high 30’s and sometimes even 40’s in mid-summer. However, it is a dry heat, which allows for much cooler summer nights than experienced in other, more humid, parts of Spain. Winters are mild, without snowfall or temperatures below freezing point outside its northern mountain range running from East to West: Sierra de Gredos, where there are ski slopes.

Nature

In a recent column in a British Sunday newspaper, Stuart Winter, The Birdman, writes: I’ve fallen in love with Extremadura after leading a recent bird watching trip to the region, and seeing an astonishing 19 different species of birds of prey, ranging from the barn door size black vulture, with its 9ft wing span, to the diminutive lesser kestrel. (Sunday Express, March 20, 2005) Extremadura’s nature parks, some of them as yet little known, offer an astonishing variety of flora and fauna. To see pairs of azure-winged magpies screeching after each other, or to go on a fieldtrip to see the bustard, or the golden eagle, is easy. The region’s typical landscape, with enormous expanses of Holm- and Cork oaks, is called ‘Dehesa’.

Size

The Autonomous Region of Extremadura encompasses a total area of 41,602 km2, almost 8% of Spain’s landmass. It two provinces, Cáceres in the North and Badajoz in the South, with their similarly named provincial capitals, are also Spain’s largest provinces. Extremadura’s capital is Mérida (Augusta Emerita during the Roman Empire).

Population

The region, with 42.000 km2, some 4.000 km2 larger than the Netherlands (16,5 million inhabitants), is home to around 1,1 million. Although the extremeños (inhabitants of Extremadura) have made great strides in providing many kinds of tourist accommodation and attractions, there is an ever-increasing demand for Northern-European type and style hostelries/hospitality. The region is replete with monuments from Roman, Visigoth and Moorish times, with various cities having been designated World Heritage sites.

Living climate

Living in Extremadura means enjoying clean air, wide open spaces, no traffic jams, little or no polluting industry, some of the best nature reserves in Europe and reasonable pricing. The largest city, Badajoz, has some 160,000 inhabitants. Second comes centrally located Cáceres, with just over 90,000 inhabitants, and designated a World Heritage site for its spectacular, totally intact, medieval centre.

Airports

Madrid (3 hours by road), Sevilla (2 - 3 hours) and Extremadura’s Badajoz Talavera Airport, serviced by Iberia. Recently, a UK economy airline started regular flights from London-Stansted to Valladolid, a three hour drive north from Cáceres. Then there is Lisbon Airport, connected by motorway, at approx. 2 to 2,5 hours distance from Extremadura.

Economy

Although many regional small- to medium-sized firms were set up with EU funding, most of them are still living in a 'subsidized economy', as yet depending on these subsidies without having experienced survival in a competitive world market. Within a few years these EU subsidies will largely disappear and this will signify excellent opportunities for investing/participating in such firms with foreign capital and know-how.

Products

The region is known for its meat products, such as Jamón Ibérico, the tasty thinly sliced Serrano ham. Olive oil, olives, some of Spain’s best cheeses with their own Certificate of Origin, many types of delicious fruits, including some of Europe’s best cherries (Valley of the River Jerte), the typical smoked paprika, Pimentón de la Vera, essential to Spanish cooking, in its three varieties of sweet, bittersweet and hot, apart from the region’s many excellent wines, make up a large part of Extremadura’s bounty. Extremeños are justly proud of their region’s cuisine. Venison, wild boar and smaller game are on the menu, and the region is famous in Spain for its fabulous hunting reserves.

Investment

Extremadura's prospects from an investor's point of view show that one may assume that any investment here might well double in value within the next few years. House prices appreciated on average 17- 20% during the last 12 months. There are still many EU-funded development subsidies available to investors.

Properties

Rural Spain’s deficiencies in Land Registry are fast being eliminated, as another sign of the EU’s development funding taking hold also here. With some 2 million former inhabitants living outside the region’s borders in other parts of Spain or abroad, due to Extremadura’s high unemployment until recent times, Extremadura offers many thousands of available properties, from huge farms to small fincas to village houses, many in less than immediately habitable state. A substantial percentage of properties still show deficiencies in Registry, although procedures are becoming more easily available to redress such situations. Sound advice from locally knowledgeable professionals when investigating the purchase of property is still of the essence.

Employment

Recent expatriate arrivals are setting up tourist accommodation, cater to the needs & want of other arrivals, or set up a small restaurant, open up a folk music school offering foreign students Master Classes, invest in a winery, cheese factory, or olive oil operation, or take over a producing agricultural smallholding. Their numbers are in the low hundreds thus far, but even when some thousands will make Extremadura their new home during the coming years, all will simply ‘evaporate’ in the immense space characterizing this enchanting region. They shall do so for many years to come.