Jamon is the delicious air-dried ham, pata negra, of the Iberic pig which is fed on acorns before its fate and then the whole hams are air- dried in the special micro climate of the Sierra de Montanchez for up to four years.

Any of the tapas bars in the main plaza of Montanchez village serve platters of jamon, cheese and bread with the strong local wine pitarra, delicious!

Montanchez 40kms from Caceres,Trujillo or Merida

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A wonderfully eclectic collection of bullfighting memorabilia covers every centimetre of wall space in this atmospheric bar, sounds naff but strangely isn't. It really has been the bullfighters' bar for many years. Good selection of wines and tasty tapas or more substantial meals upstairs.

Just behing the covered market off the pedestrian shopping street of Merida

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Mérida in Extremadura is the site of the finest collection of Roman remains in Spain, perhaps anywhere outside Italy. A stunningly beautiful theatre seating 6,000 is still in use today, and an amphitheatre accommodating 15,000, thankfully not in use, are the centrepieces.

A number of villas with mosaics, paintings and frescos, a Temple of Diana, a Trajan Arch, an 800 metre long Puente Romano with 64 arches over the river and the vast three tier Acueducto de los Milagros help complete the picture.

But you must still visit Rafael Moneo's imaginative, modern museum, full of artefacts, and a truly wonderful evocation of Roman life and culture.

A number of good hotels exist for those who are attracted to stay for a while.

Mérida in Badajoz province in Extremadura, near the Portuguese border.

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