Roads of Extremadura

I like Madrid a lot, but I love leaving it. There's something about the regions just beyond the city limits that fills me with a sense of freedom, especially when I'm driving. They're sun-baked and spacious; they feel rural but are tied to the capital; their cathedrals and ancient city walls point to wars and power struggles, but orchards and vineyards, dairies and farms remind you that life is still rooted in the land.

While researching a book on Spain's back roads, I discover one of the very best drives, west into Extremadura. When I pass Talavera de la Reina, I begin to feel I am in the hinterland. The traffic eases off, and once I get off the A-5 highway after Oropesa, I slow down, too.

My first stop is Guadalupe. I know the name from Mexico, where the virgin of that name is venerated above all other saints. After my own ritual - a quick cafe solo in one of the small bars in the plaza - I go inside the church to see her. She's black - one of only three black Madonnas in Spain - and her tiny face, on top of her vast triangular cape, is almost buried by a huge gold crown.

It was from this town that the cult travelled to Mexico. The infamous conquistador, Hernan Cortes, was born in Medellin, in Extremadura, and the religious passions of his province travelled with him. In the 16th century the region was poor, and while first sons might inherit land or a cushy clerical office, other males in the family were often compelled to seek their fortunes in the newly discovered Americas.

I hit my first back road heading west, on the EX102, which threads through Canamero and Logrosan and takes me into a more rugged landscape. Las Extremaduras derives from the Latin for "beyond the Duero River", and has a reputation in Spain for being primitive and wild. The land here is cultivated and, even after a hot summer, splashed with green. Along the roadside, trees throw shadows over sleepy bars in the towns, and flowers spill from balconies.

Trujillo is the birthplace of Francisco Pizarro, the conquistador and, as the equestrian statue in the plaza tells you, "liberator of Peru". His half-brother, Hernando, was another powerful figure in Peru, controlling Cuzco for a spell and negotiating with the Spanish court during the troubled early stages of the invasion. The two men grew up here, and from a viewpoint near their house - now a museum - you can look out on a vast, desert-like landscape. It's easy to imagine the appeal of a New World adventure.

Yet Trujillo today is grand, because the Pizarros and other conquistadores were nothing if not flashy, and some returned to build palaces and mansions to advertise their new stations in life. In the plaza are handsome buildings, several with proud heraldic escutcheons and one notable corner with an allegorical relief celebrating the Spanish conquest of Peru's indigenous peoples.