Agriculture & livestock
For many centuries Extremadura has had an agricultural tradition. Over the course of time the population, mainly agricultural workers, has adapted to the land and climate. This has resulted in agricultural and stock breeding methods that are at one with nature.
Extremadura is of special importance economically due to the production of cork, charcoal, olives and ham. The area has a huge potential for eco tourism. Large parts of Extremadura are still unspoiled.
Stock breeding has an important role in the region. Cattle can be seen everywhere. Cows, sheep, goats and pigs still live in a way which is reminiscent of bygone days.
Because of the transhumance system, in which cattle are transported from the pasture in the mountains to the low grasslands in autumn and back to the mountains in late spring, exhaustion of the steppes and dehesas is prevented. For many centuries the cattle journeyed walking along walled paths, the so-called canadas. Such a journey took weeks, if not months, and was a real trial for the cattle as well as the shepherds.
By breeding selectively tough races have come into being, that are able to survive such harsh conditions. Nowadays the cattle are transported by cattle-trucks or trains, but fortunately there are still groups that support the reinstatement of the old system of transhumance.