| The Province of Salamanca lies on
the far western extremity of Spain, up against the border with Portugal
and thus, in common with its neighbour Extremadura to the south, shares
some fairly harsh, mountainous land including the time warp villages in
the valley of Las Batuecas, around La Alberca bordering onto the Land
Without Bread of Las Hurdes. When I
first visited the area in the early 1960's, the roads were appalling and
even in 1980, I seem to recall the last bit of the road to La Alberca
was little more than a dirt track. Now, thanks no doubt to EU
funded road building programmes, the roads are...still pretty awful for
the most part, although with the odd motorway springing up here and
there.
However, given the combination of quaint
villages, spectacular mountain scenery, abundant wildlife and the
glorious architecture of the capital city of Salamanca itself, the
province is definitely worth including in any visit to Spain, preferably
for longer than the typical day trip.
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