Читать книгу The Sierras of Extremadura. 32 half and full-day walks in western Spain's hills онлайн

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Horses are still a part of everyday life for many local people

In the 1500s, Extremadura provided the majority of conquistadores for the plundering of the New World. Trujillo and Cáceres still display the results of some of the wealth brought back, but most of the treasure went to fighting interminable religious wars. Extremadura gradually slid into obscurity; the landlords lived as landlords do while the people worked the land in abject poverty.

The Peninsula Wars of the early 19th century ravaged the land. The forces of Spain, Portugal and the British on the one hand, and Napoleonic France on the other, pillaged their way through the region. The 20th century brought no respite: the civil war saw defeat for republican-minded people. Dictator Franco took his revenge in neglect of the area for decades. Many people sought work in other European countries; people over 60 may not speak English but very often have enough Dutch or German to pass a pleasant time of day with visitors from those countries.