Trip of the week: pigs and palaces in Extremadura
With vast landscapes and granite villages, Spain’s wild west has an ‘austere’ beauty

Covering an area the size of Switzerland, but with only a million or so inhabitants, Extremadura has long been “a byword for backwardness”. And this landlocked region, in Spain’s far west, can seem forbidding, says Paul Richardson in Condé Nast Traveller. But its vast landscapes and granite villages have an “austere” beauty, and among them are cultural treasures aplenty.
The south, with its vineyards and olive groves, feels like neighbouring Andalucia; the north is greener, rising to the rugged peaks of the Sierra de Gredos; and scattered throughout are stretches of dehesa, a semi-cultivated woodland of holm oaks where black-footed Iberico pigs gorge on acorns, producing the world’s most delicious and expensive hams.
The region’s greatest works of art are the eight “blindingly beautiful” portraits of monks by the 17th century painter Francisco de Zurbarán on display at the Guadalupe monastery, which was the “mothership of the Spanish enterprise in the New World”.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
This harsh border country spawned more than its fair share of conquistadors, including Hernán Cortés and Francisco Pizarro, and some flaunted their new-found wealth back home – most flamboyantly in the Renaissance mansions of Trujillo, a town on a crag that rises “like a citadel” from the surrounding plains. Nearby Cáceres is glorious too, a city of “palacios, secret squares, granite churches and convents” that’s also home to a “sparkling” contemporary art museum and one of Spain’s finest restaurants, Atrio.
The region’s other beautiful towns include Zafra and Jerez de los Caballeros in the south; Badajoz and Olivenza close to the Portuguese border; and Mérida, with its splendid Roman remains. You’ll find no shortage of fine restaurants, country hotels and holiday lets, including the Casas del Naval near Villanueva, the Finca al-manzil near Montánchez, and the “dreamlike” Hotel Monasterio Rocamador.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
El Palace Barcelona: old-world luxury in the heart of the city
The Week Recommends This historic hotel is set within a former Ritz outpost moments from the Passeig de Gràcia
-
The best history books to read in 2025
The Week Recommends These fascinating deep-dives are perfect for history buffs
-
July 4 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Friday’s political cartoons include the danger of talking politics at a family picnic, and disappearing Medicaid entitlements
-
The Anatomy of Painting: Jenny Saville's 'stunning' retrospective
The Week Recommends Saville's new collection features 'masterpieces' from throughout her career
-
M3GAN 2.0: riotous action sequel to the comedy-horror hit about a killer doll
The Week Recommends A 'ridiculously' entertaining 'hyper-camp mash-up' of Terminator 2 and Mission: Impossible
-
Properties of the week: bright and cheerful houses
The Week Recommends Featuring homes in Cornwall, London and Norfolk
-
Shami Chakrabarti picks her favourite books
The Week Recommends The politician and human rights activist shares the polemics that inspired her
-
6 sleek homes for modernists
Feature Featuring a concrete-and-steel home in South Carolina and a renovated 19th-century former carriage house in Pennsylvania
-
The Genius Myth: a 'fresh and unpretentious' book from Helen Lewis
The Week Recommends This 'angry, witty book' by Helen Lewis is a valuable critique of the 'flattering fiction' of genius
-
From Hilde, With Love – the 'moving' story of an accidental revolutionary
The Week Recommends Liv Lisa Fries gives a 'compelling' performance as the soft-spoken heroine.
-
Exploring Georgia's southern highlands
The Week Recommends Visit Javakheti, Georgia's 'lake district', and meet the last-remaining 'spirit wrestlers' in the region