Tour Audio a Badajoz

Badajoz sits almost exactly on the Portuguese border, where the Guadiana River separates Spain from its neighbour, and the city has spent much of its history being fought over by the two countries. The Moorish Alcazaba fortress that crowns the hill above the old town dates from the 9th century and is one of the largest Moorish fortifications in Spain, its massive crenellated walls enclosing a quiet garden with a small archaeological museum. The Torre de Espantaperros, a distinctive octagonal watchtower rising from the Alcazaba walls, has been Badajoz's emblem since the Middle Ages.

The city's darkest hour came in 1812 during the Peninsular War, when Wellington's British forces stormed the fortifications in a siege of appalling violence, suffering over 5,000 casualties in a single night's fighting and then sacking the city the following day.

The Plaza de San Juan in the old town, with its Moorish origins and subsequent colonial architecture, gives a sense of Badajoz's layered history. Extremadura is one of Spain's least visited regions, which means that Badajoz's restaurants serve the region's extraordinary cured meats, iberico ham, and roast lamb to locals rather than tourists, at prices that will seem extraordinarily reasonable to visitors from wealthier parts of Europe.