Talayuela () is a municipality located in the

province of Cáceres The province of Cáceres ( ; es, provincia de Cáceres, ) is a province of western Spain, and makes up the northern half of the autonomous community of Extremadura. Its capital is the city of Cáceres. Other cities in the province include Pla ...

Extremadura Extremadura (; ext, Estremaúra; pt, Estremadura; Fala: ''Extremaúra'') is an autonomous community of Spain. Its capital city is Mérida, and its largest city is Badajoz. Located in the central-western part of the Iberian Peninsula, it ...

, (

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

). Talayuela's name comes from "atalayuela", related to the Spanish (Arab origin) word "Atalaya", which means "watch tower".

Geography

Talayuela is located in the north-east part of

autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...

, in

Tiétar river Tiétar may refer to: *Tiétar River, a river of Spain. * Tiétar, Cáceres, a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. *Tejeda de Tiétar Tejeda de Tiétar is a municipality located in the province of Cáceres, Extrem ...

valley, an important tributary of

Tagus The Tagus ( ; es, Tajo ; pt, Tejo ; see #Name, below) is the longest river in the Iberian Peninsula. The river rises in the Montes Universales near Teruel, in mid-eastern Spain, flows , generally west with two main south-westward sections ...

river, and belongs to

Campo Arañuelo Campo Arañuelo is a comarca in Province of Cáceres, Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain. It contains the municipalities of Almaraz, Belvís de Monroy, Berrocalejo, Bohonal de Ibor, Casas de Miravete, Casatejada, El Gordo, Cáceres, El Gordo, Higuera, ...

comarca A ''comarca'' (, or , or ) is a traditional region or local administrative division found in Portugal, Spain and some of their former colonies, like Brazil, Nicaragua, and Panama. The term is derived from the term ''marca'', meaning a "march, ...

, next to

La Vera La Vera is a comarca (county, but with no administrative role) in Extremadura, western Spain. The largest town is Jaraíz de la Vera. Located at the feet of the Sierra de Gredos mountain range, in the Tiétar river valley, the comarca is economic ...

comarca. That land is almost a flat valley, with an altitude of 287 meters above sea level. Talayuela owns a large and fertile pine forest, plus a big number of oak forests turned into meadows for human use. Talayuela also owns a number of important ponds, which are used by local animals and migrant birds as a refuge and provisioning base.

Demographics

Current Talayuela's population are 9,582 people (

INE INE, Ine or ine may refer to: Institutions * Institut für Nukleare Entsorgung, a German nuclear research center * Instituto Nacional de Estadística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional de Estatística (disambiguation) * Instituto Nacional Elec ...

2007), including people living in neighboring farms. The population has been growing due to immigrants looking for a better job, so nowadays Talayuela holds people from 22 countries. Immigrants are 33% of current Talayuela's population.

Economy

Talayuela's economy is mainly based on

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

growing, but in the last years it started to decline as the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

grants disappeared. Other important growings for Talayuela are asparagus, which provides job for many families as there are two important nearby canning companies, pepper, tomato and corn. As tobacco growing is declining, other alternatives are being developed, like saffron, cotton or coffee growing. Actually, both cotton and coffee were grown before tobacco growings began. Families based in Talayuela, many of them immigrants, live thanks to agriculture. People in Talayuela use to alternate tobacco and asparagus harvest in different parts of the year, so they're rarely unemployed, and some immigrants work on grape and orange harvest in other autonomous communities too. Tobacco growing is so important in Talayuela that it helped many young people to pay for their education, working in summer time and studying in winter time.

History

Talayuela was founded in the 16th century as an extension of

Plasencia Plasencia () is a walled market city in the province of Cáceres, Extremadura, Western Spain. , it has a population of 41,047. Situated on the bank of the Jerte River, Plasencia has a historic quarter that is a consequence of the city's stra ...

town, it was the same century in which the San Martín church was built, being the most important Talayuela's monument.

References

External links