Secondary School EL BROCENSE
The Secondary School “El Brocense” is the oldest one in Extremadura. It was built in 1839 by the Queen Maria Cristina de Borbón. For many years, IES “El Brocense” was the only secondary school in the town where many generations of inhabitants of Cáceres were educated. In 2014, we are celebrating its 175th anniversary and its 50th present location anniversary.
Many renowned teachers have taught in its classrooms and later quite a few students have stood out in different fields of knowledge. This school was named “El Brocense” after a great humanist from Cáceres, Francisco Sánchez de las Brozas, who was a distinguished professor at Salamanca University. Since 1965 its location has been in the centre of the town. Its installations have been distributed in three levels and they are organized in different buildings separated by open spaces with gardens and sports facilities among them.
In the current year there are 1400 students enrolled and 100 teachers. This School has been taking part in different European programmes for a long time; as our main purpose is working to improve the academic and human quality of our students at every level in order to prepare them for the future.
EXTREMADURA
Extremadura is an autonomous community of Spain located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, on the border with Portugal. The territory is divided into two provinces: Cáceres (in the north) and Badajoz (in the south).
Extremadura has a long history. In fact, there are prehistoric vestiges of human activity in Maltravieso’s cave or the dolmens of the region of Valencia de Alcántara that date more than 4.000 years. More recent are the remains left by the Romans and other tribes that crossed these lands or settled here leaving evidence of their presence and providing the rich cultural historical and artistic heritage that represent the architectural ensembles of Cáceres, Mérida, Guadalupe, besides other important urban nucleus like Trujillo, Plasencia, Zafra or Jerez de los Caballeros. The variety of the geographical relief, the differences in altitude and the climatic nuances allow the development of a rich vegetation, amongst which we can distinguish chestnuttrees, oaks, strawberry trees, heathers… in the mountainous areas; in the great plains the most representative landscape is pasture land scattered with holm oaks and cork oaks.
As for the natural environment, it is necessary to mention Monfragüe National Park, an example of Mediterranean biodiversity declared Zone of Special Protection for Birds and Biosphere Reserve. Other spaces of special environmental interest are the nature reserve of Garganta de los Infiernos, los Barruecos, los Llanos de Cáceres, the mountain range of San Pedro…
This abundance of natural resources serves to promote rural tourism initiatives all over our geography. This, together with agriculture and cattle farming are the most important economic activities of the Region.
Prominent amongst these are the horticultural sector, the olive grooves, the grapevines, sheep and pig breeding; they provide a dynamic agroindustry and the establishment of designations of origin such as “Ribera del Guadiana”.
ABOUT CÁCERES
Cáceres is the capital of the Spanish Region of Extremadura, in western central Spain, near Portugal.
It has around 96000 inhabitants. It is a small city, which makes it quite convenient to walk from one place to another.
Cáceres was declared World Heritage City by UNESCO in 1986 because of its Old Medieval Quarter, one of the three most important historical landmarks in Europe.
What can you do in Cáceres?
– If you want to visit the Medieval Quarter, we suggest to go on a night tour. A good option -if you understand Spanish- is “Jugglers in Cáceres”, where they will show you the old town while listening to old tales and stories that will take you back in time to the Middle Ages.
– During the day, there are also guided tours available in English, or you can choose to stroll around the old town at your leisure and lose yourself in its streets. You can begin the walk in the main square, and continue along the old and the new Jewry, visit the palaces, Cathedral of Saint Mary, Church of San Jorge, Church of San Mateo, The Tower of Bujaco, Arco de la Estrella…
– Visiting the museums:
In The Museum of Cáceres , once a Moorish Alcazaba, there is a Hispanic-Arabic Cistern and an important ethnographic collection. The History Museum of Pedrilla takes you on a historical tour of Extremadura from prehistory to the present day. The Guayasamín house museum has an impressive collection of pre-Columbian and a colonial collection belonging to the painter and sculptor Oswaldo Guayasam. Helga de Alvear Exhibition Centre, offers a fantastic modern art collection.
– Enjoying our gastronomy:
Cáceres is a fantastic place to eat, in fact, it has been declared Spanish gastronomy capital of the year 2015. You can try typical products and dishes like patatera (a spicy spreadable sausage that reminds of chorizo), migas extremeñas (fried breadcrumbs), torta del Cásar (one of the most well known cheeses in Spain); the best Iberiam ham, of course, delicious homemade desserts or the world famous cherries from the Jerte valley…
There is always something going on in our town and, apart from the visit to the historical
monuments mentioned above, the town offers a great variety of cultural activities throughout the year.
Definitely, Cáceres is such a beautiful place!