Bordering on Portugal, the sprawling but thinly populated region of Extremadura has long been Spain‘s poorest, with per-capita GDP at just over two-thirds the national average.

From the foothills of the Gredos mountains, where Jaraíz de la Vera lies, to the harsher landscapes of the south, this has traditionally been an area of landowners and poor agricultural labourers. At 32%, its unemployment is rivalled only by the Canary Islands and southern Andalucia.