← Maratón de Badajoz·Day trip

Olivenza: A Portuguese Town Inside Spain

A small, flat border town that was Portuguese until 1801, with Manueline church doorways, a medieval keep and a slow half-day's worth of streets.

DurationDay trip
TransitTaxi or hire car, about 30 minutes from Badajoz
DepartsBadajoz

After the Maratón de Badajoz: Olivenza

The Route: Badajoz → Olivenza → Badajoz Logistics: Taxi or hire car, about 25 km and 30 minutes each way. Local buses run, but check times at the Badajoz bus station. Marathon Month: March Duration: Day trip

Badajoz ──(30 mins taxi/car)──> Olivenza
   ▲                              │
   └────────(30 mins)─────────────┘

Olivenza is the gentlest day out after the Maratón de Badajoz. It is 25 km south-west of the city, close to the Guadiana and the Portuguese border, and it is small and flat enough to see in a slow morning. The town was Portuguese until 1801, when it passed to Spain, and it still looks the part: white houses, stone doorways carved in the Portuguese Manueline style and street signs in two languages.

March in Olivenza is spring in the dehesa, the open oak country of Extremadura. The fields are green, mornings are cool and afternoons are usually mild. It is not a festival month, so the streets belong to residents.

There is no train. A taxi from central Badajoz takes about 30 minutes; agree the return pick-up time with the driver. A hire car gives more freedom and makes it easy to combine Olivenza with a slow drive along the river. Buses connect the two towns, but check the day's times at the Badajoz bus station, as services are thinner on some days.

The old town

The historic centre sits inside what is left of its walls. The streets are level and paved, which makes this the least demanding walk of any excursion from Badajoz.

The castle's tall medieval keep, the Torre del Homenaje, rises over the centre. Climbing it means stairs, so decide on the day whether your legs agree. The ethnographic museum occupies buildings around the castle and is an easy way to spend an hour indoors.

The church of Santa María Magdalena is the town's best building, with twisted stone columns inside in the Manueline manner, a style far more common in Portugal than in Spain. The Santa Casa de Misericórdia next to the main square has walls of blue-and-white Portuguese tiles. Check opening times locally, since both are working churches with limited visiting hours.

The Puerta del Calvario, one of the old town gates, is a short walk from the centre and a good place to see how the walls once closed the town.

Lunch and the return

Olivenza's cafés serve Extremaduran staples, and the town is known for a local pastry, the técula mécula, made with almonds and egg yolks. Book the taxi back or leave the car park by mid-afternoon if you want an evening in Badajoz.