Spain's "sun and sand" golden formula draws millions to her beaches and islands. But unfortunately landlocked Extremadura only receives 1% of the nations tourist income inspite of the fact that Badajoz is Spain's largest boarder town with Portugal located on recently completed Madrid-Lisbon highway. The worst tourism problem is that Extremadura is unheard of internationally. The land which sent out daring discoverers to the New World is today undiscovered by the rest of the world.

The forgotten "Land of the Conquistadors" has been largely unsuccessful in drawing visitors to her world-class tourist attractions such as the Roman archeological treasures in Mérida, the medieval city of Cáceres, one of the world's finest wildlife refuges at Montfrague, not to mention all the colorful local traditions, festivals, Holy Week celebrations and Badajoz carnival. The greatest economic impediment Extremadura faces is that it is virtually unheard of outside of Spain.

Extremadura's traditional sluggish agrarian culture had been one of the most impoverished in Spain. A Spanish documentary film of the Hurdes mountains villages in northern Cáceres entitled "A Land without Bread" captured the desperate plight of the region. Remote villages were isolated and could only be reached on horseback as late as in the 1970's

Spain's general economic boon and European Union's convergence funding has brought needed economic relief to Extremadura. Today with a much improved network of national roads, with the large scale construction of modern apartments building, and with nationally funded public and university education. Extremadurans now enjoy technological and social benefits on a par with the rest of western Europe. Nevertheless Extremadurans still suffer from almost one-third unemployment and are just learning how to market their cultural and historic treasures to the rest of the world.

Literature

1. A Short History of Spain - Conquistador Magazine, 2000.

2. Spain Magazine, 2000, №2.

3. The World Factbook – Spain, NY, 2007.