South of Salamanca

Honeyguide’s South of Salamanca holiday is in a part of Spain which is nearly unknown as a nature holiday destination, despite its amazing landscapes, diversity and rich natural heritage. It’s adjacent to the better-known Extremadura, which – rightly – attracts interest and bookings fairly easily. A continuing challenge is to highlight the attractions of South of Salamanca, just to Extremadura’s north, and a similar distance west from Madrid.

Spanish sparrow in the snow (VB).

I started, writes Chris, by asking our guide in the area, Vega Bermejo, who grew up in England, how she came to be living in the area and why she loves it. 

“Having lived several years in a large Spanish city I was desperate to move to the countryside.  I had driven through the area the summer before, and about 15km from our present house, had said to Alfonso “I wouldn’t mind living around here!”

“Just a few months later, unexpectedly, I was contacted by a cousin who knew of a house for sale, relatively close to where I had spent my summer holidays as a child with my father's family, who were from Salamanca. Alfonso and I went to see the house and the land … and we moved in within months."

“Surrounded by rolling hills close to the Sierra de Bejar and Gredos, the sound of cranes as they come in to roost on the shores of the reservoir a stone’s throw away, bee-eaters perching on the wires in our village and black vultures circling overhead, fields full of orchids and tiny daffodils in the spring, lizards and turtles, butterflies of all colours and sizes throughout the year, huge old holm oaks providing homes to a myriad of lifeforms: these are all part of the reason I love this area and why I decided to share it with those who can appreciate it.“

"The climate in our holiday area is slightly cooler than Extremadura as it’s partly on the Castilian plateau. It’s a curious mix of Atlantic and Mediterranean habitats, which have generated regional endemics of flora such as Linaria nivea and Antirrhinum meonanthum and have both northern and southern species of birds such as Spanish sparrow and bluethroat, and butterflies such as two-tailed pasha and lesser spotted fritillary."

Linaria nivea, left, and Antirrhinum meonanthum, right (VB).

Vega is involved with protecting crop-nesting Montagu’s and hen harriers. The Junta (regional council) is involved, which is good though Vega works with a team from the local group of SEO (BirdLife Spain). Years vary, and happily 2024 was a good one, mainly because of the abundant winter and early spring rainfall which meant that the crops grew well and there was plenty of food in the form of voles.

SEO Salamanca’s harrier campaign, in 2024, located 23 raptor nests from which 76 birds fledged. Of these, 16 nests were Montagu’s harriers, fledging 47 young: the rest were hen harriers. Montagu’s harriers are declining in most areas and have stopped breeding in the UK, but here it’s a thriving population, thanks to SEO’s hard work (supported financially by this holiday) and the cooperation of farmers.

Another project for Vega is that in this past year, supported by a grant from the European Union, she has been working on an inventory of flora and fauna for the Biosphere Reserve of Sierras de Bejar y Francia, in particular wildlife of touristic interest. So she is in a unique position to know and share wildlife of her local area.

Helen Crowder was with Honeyguide’s group in 2023. Helen says, ”You'd be hard pressed to find more diversity of wildlife than in Spain's under-visited Wild West, expertly led by Vega Bermejo, who also knows exactly where to go for delightful lunches and coffees!”

Blue rock thrush, photographed on the holiday in 2023 (Cheryl Hunt).

Tim Hunt was there in 2023 too, and he adds these notes in praise of South of Salamanca.

“The area has a wide variety of birds, butterflies and plants to offer in a comparatively unexplored area of Spain. The way of life has altered over recent years with population moving away and changes in farming methods. Your guide, Vega who lives locally, can take you to many and varied habitats giving you time to walk and explore with many super photo opportunities. Vega has excellent English having been brought up in Leeds!

“Accommodation at the Hotel Rural Salvatierra overlooks the reservoir in a quiet village central to the area to be explored. You can look at the holiday report from 2023 to get the feel for Salamanca – just look at those ocellated lizards! A real Honeyguide experience with many and varied coffee stops and superb picnics and lunch stops.”

Ocellated lizard (Cheryl Hunt).

Chris Durdin and Vega Bermejo, November 2024