Vanlife | Exploring Extremadura in October

After loading up my van for another exploratory trip into Extremadura, we finally set off.

We visited here in August but when the temperature reached 43°C I decided to return home. The dogs were zonked and I was not far behind them. Heat is a killer in a metal box.

We had been in search of land, non buildable and not under food production type land, therefore 'cheap' land, and when I say cheap I mean €5k for a piece of land between 3 - 10,000m².

You would never get planning permission but that's OK as I just want a piece of land where I can park up Florie and allow the girls to roam free.

Our own little off grid park up.

Being hunting dogs they have little recall so it's difficult to let them run free in public spaces.

I have looked all over Spain online in search of something suitable and Extremadura is the only region which has thrown up several possibilities.

My wishlist is:

3 - 10,000m² flattish land
Reasonable access for Florie
Fencing or stone walls is a bonus
Water, stream or well
Within 45 minutes of a town

Add to this a few trees and I would be happy.

We set off in August to view three potential possibilities.

First, was 10,000m² flat land with easy access, a couple of km from a village. It had stone walls and 50 holm oak trees. No water, and it turned out no shade either. The trees ran along the neighbour's boundary wall and at midday cast their shadow across his (or her) land. Anyway, we viewed it alone as the owner didn't turn up.

Second was another 10,000m², not flat but rather undulating land with a variety of trees and stone outcrops. It had its own well but you'd need a 4x4 to drive around it. The owner couldn't be there but at least he told me.

Third. I made a mistake, I did not realise how far away it was from the above two properties, and given the oppressive heat I cancelled.

And now, several weeks later, and many degrees cooler (it will be 30°C later) we set off once again to Extremadura, in particular the province of Cáceres.

The weather forecast for the coming week was a bit iffy but we pressed on all the same, encountering showers and good periods of sunny weather.

My aim was to view a piece of land of 6,000m² which was fenced, had two water supplies, a few fruit and olive trees plus around 50 grapes vines. It had a rather cute casita of about 35m² with a chimney, and solar panel for light and water pump.

Unfortunately, it was located at the end of a single lane track of 1,5km. Despite the rutted track and ominous craters just waiting to fill up with rain water, we pressed on until we found it. Parking up at a suitable spot we left the van on foot and walked the final 100 metres.

It was indeed a great and tranquil location but I had doubts about the track.

Anyway, I had an official viewing the following day including an internal viewing of the casita which I was looking forward to.

We parked up overnight at an area of autocaravans kindly provided by the town hall of Potaje about 15 minutes drive from the casita.

Needless to say the heavens opened and I had to cancel my viewing as I'm sure I would have needed a tractor to reach the casita. I spoke with the agent and asked them to provide a copy of the 'nota simple' which would allow my abogado to check the legality of the casita, etc. One month later I am still waiting.

So the search continues.