Spain – Plasencia (En)

Plasencia is a city in the autonomous community of Extremadura, in the province of Cáceres, on the banks of the Jerte River. We were amazed by its old town, as it has everything, having been inhabited by Romans and Arabs until Alfonso VIII reconquered it in the 12th century. The city has well-preserved medieval walls, palaces, noble houses, religious buildings, and a huge cathedral. There’s also a lively street market in the town hall square.

Where to stay

We stayed at Camping La Chopera (40.045399, -6.05907 lat, long), which is now the municipal campsite. It costs €19 per day, including electricity, with the ACSI card, and €22 without. The campsite is quite basic but has everything you need: drinking water next to the pitches, laundry facilities, two dishwashing areas, toilets with seats and toilet paper, and showers with hot water and decent pressure. The pitches are huge, and you can choose to be in the sun or in the shade under the trees. The staff are very friendly and helpful; they also run the campsite restaurant, which serves typical Spanish home cooking with a daily set menu or combination plates, very affordable. You can buy bread daily at the reception. The campsite has a municipal swimming pool, which is free for campsite guests, but it was closed when we were there. The campsite is next to the Jerte River, and you can walk to the city centre along a nice riverside path in about 40 minutes. I recommend it for seeing this beautiful city.

What to see

We walked along the river, a pretty pedestrian path, then crossed a bridge, and you’re in the city. The first thing we saw was the medieval walls, which are very well preserved.

Descending from the walls, you arrive at the Town Hall square, surrounded by lively bars and a street market selling typical local products.

Along one side of the square, you reach the 13th-century Church of St Esteban, which was closed, so we couldn’t see it. Next to the church is the Mercado de Abastos (food market) and a square with bars that serve free tapas with drinks, so we decided to have a few drinks and some free tapas. The tapa of the day was meatballs, and since it contained egg, they brought me a chicken curry. We were so hungry that we ate the tapas before we could even take pictures!

From there, we headed towards the cathedral, and on the way, we passed by the Convent of St Clara, founded in 1475 and now a museum where you can see 16th-century sarcophagi from the former Hospital de la Cruz, founded in 1550, as well as exhibition rooms with photographs and paintings. The museum is free, so we went in and it was well worth it.

Finally, we arrived at Plasencia Cathedral. The Plasencia Cathedral complex consists of the Old Cathedral, a 13th-century Romanesque building, and the New Cathedral, whose construction began in the 15th century, with Gothic and Renaissance elements.

We returned to the campsite along the path by the river, where we stopped to say hello to the campsite’s horses.

Next stop, Mérida, capital of Extremadura, founded by the Romans in the 1st century BC, which preserves most of its Roman buildings, and you’ll be able to see them in the next blog post!