La Siberia
Forget the fur hats, long fur-collared coats and snowshoes, this is La Siberia, Extremadura, Spain – with big skies, sparse population, beautiful wide-open countryside, huge lakes, empty roads and the most warm-hearted, hardworking and welcoming people you could ever hope to meet!
La Siberia (pronounced See – bear – eeeee – a) is a large “comarca” (almost a county) which takes 2 hours plus to drive from north to south. It is bordered to the north by the provinces of Cáceres and Toledo, on the west by Las Vegas Altas region, on the south by La Serena region, and on the east by the Province of Ciudad Real. The district contains 18 municipalities with a combined area of 2,943 km2 (1,136 sq mi) and a population of only 29,214 people.
La Siberia is a region of two halves; the north has stunning scenery of mountains and forests and quiet little villages hidden away whilst the south is wide open countryside, teeming with sheep and wonderful expanses of water and holm-oak and eucalyptus trees. La Siberia doesn’t flaunt its beauty, you have to explore and find it for yourself. You can be driving along totally unaware of what lies less than half a mile away from you in a hidden valley where there’s shady, wooded hillsides leading down to cool clear water stretching off into the distance with nothing but bird song and the rustle of the leaves to break the silence.
