San Martín de Trevejo
Worth an overnight. Ask before recording anyone speaking A Fala — it is a community, not an exhibit.
A living minority language in a granite village, at the Portuguese border.
At a Glance
San Martín de Trevejo is the largest and best-preserved village of the Sierra de Gata, built of granite with whitewashed lanes, a fortified church and a plaza of considerable quality for a place this size. Its distinction is the language: A Fala, also called Xalimego, is spoken here and in two neighbouring villages — a Romance language descended from settlers brought from Galicia and Asturias in the Middle Ages, unintelligible to standard Spanish speakers nearby. Signs are bilingual, older people use it daily, and it is the main reason to put this on a map. Two or three places to stay and eat; book in summer.
How it got here
The history of the Jálama valley links to the medieval repopulation of the frontier between the kingdoms of León and Portugal. During the thirteenth century, the Order of Alcántara took control of this territory, granting the village a status that shielded it from the worst of the border conflicts. This isolation protected the community from the linguistic shifts occurring in the surrounding plains. The persistence of A Fala confirms this historical detachment from the neighboring valleys. The architecture, with its heavy granite bases and timber-framed upper stories, follows a style imported by northern settlers whose dialects merged over centuries into the distinct speech still heard in these streets today.
Where it sits
Deep in the Sierra de Gata, the village sits on the northern slopes of the Jálama mountain range. It lies on the western edge of Cáceres, where the terrain breaks into narrow, rocky valleys shielded from the heat of the Extremaduran plains. Chestnut groves and oak forests cover the surrounding hillsides, sustained by moisture drawn from the Atlantic. Access requires winding mountain roads that discourage heavy traffic. Autumn brings vibrant color to the canopy and quiet to the squares, while the summer heat softens under the shade of the village stone walls and the cold water running through its ancient granite gutters.
What to eat and drink
The local kitchen relies on the harvest of the Sierra de Gata. Presa ibérica, the succulent cut from the shoulder of acorn-fed pigs, defines the high quality of the pork produced in this province. Caldo de patatas, a thick soup of potatoes, peppers and local oil, provides sustenance during the cold mountain winters. Olives grown in the valley produce a highly regarded virgin oil often drizzled over bread or fresh salads. For drink, the red wines of the region provide a robust accompaniment to the local game, particularly boar or venison, which hunters bring into the village larder during the colder months.
Extremadura: the whole region
The emptiest region in Spain, and the one where the scale of the country is clearest: dehesa plains running to the horizon in every direction, hilltop towns built from the stone under them, and the best Roman remains in the country at…
Minimum 4 days · better 7-8 days · deep 12 days
In Extremadura
In Extremadura
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