Casa Alfarera, half a kilometre off a little rural road up a sandy track, can accommodate four or occasionally 5 people. It is comfortably but simply furnished, heated by a wood-burning stove in the winter, using prunings from the local holm oaks, and powered by solar panels on the porch roof. With its high wood frame ceiling it gives a feeling of cool space in the summer and of the airy outdoors when the doors are all open.

Both bedrooms have their own external doors, steps allowing access to the surrounding landscape of olive and oak trees and rugged granite slopes. There is a private swimming pool where the water is cleaned by the saline system; you float amongst the olive trees in silky non-chlorinated water and total privacy, swallows diving past for insects, damsel and dragonflies whirring among the papyrus in the adjacent charka with its wooden bridge, stunning views of the Sierra all around.

At cooler times of the year there are many beautiful walks in the hills, well away from tarmac and traffic; you can walk to several small villages near by and take in a bar lunch, or picnic amongst the rocks with birds, wild flowers and tremendous views.

Extremadura offers some of the best bird-watching in Spain. It is bigger than Switzerland, sparsely populated, and has great habitat diversity. Eagle owls live in the rocky ledges above the finca and can be heard at dusk, many other predatory birds are common, and a delightful variety of smaller birds abound in the tree pastures and olive groves around the Sierra.

There is plenty of cultural and urban interest too; the centre of Caceres is one of the most complete and finest preserved examples of a medieval town centre anywhere in Europe. Of similar importance are the monastery of Santa Maria of Guadalupe and the extensive Roman remains at Mérida, which have earned the city recognition from UNESCO as of world heritage importance. The Womad world music festival is held in Caceres every May, and outdoor theatre, dance and opera are put on in the Roman amphitheatre in Mérida every summer.

Local traditional agriculture provides olive oil, figs, wine, cereals and vegetables. The little black pigs which eat acorns in the autumn are the basis of many local specialities, principally the air-cured jamon iberico; game is abundant, and there is a simple cuisine based on the good things of the earth.

The house and land is cared for by Finca al Manzil and can be booked from their website.