Los Barruecos

Los Barruecos, declared a natural monument in 1996, is an area where weathering has left granite in rounded boulders and stacks, some balanced improbably, around a series of small lagoons made by damming for a wool-washing operation. White storks nest directly on the boulders rather than on buildings or trees, which is unusual, forming one of the most important rock-nesting colonies in Europe, and in 1997 Malpartida was named a European stork village; they arrive from winter and are present through spring. The eighteenth-century wool-washing factory beside the water holds the Museo Vostell Malpartida, founded in 1976 by the German Fluxus artist Wolf Vostell, who settled here and made large installations using cars, concrete and machinery, several of them sited outdoors among the rocks. Game of Thrones filmed a battle sequence here in 2016.

Highlights

• The stork colony - nests built directly on granite boulders.
• The balanced granite - weathered stacks and rounded blocks around lagoons.
• The Vostell museum - Fluxus installations in an old wool-washing factory.
• The lagoons - dammed pools reflecting the rocks.

When to go

February to June for the storks, which are present from late winter through the breeding season; the site is walkable year-round but summer is very hot with no shade. The museum closes on Mondays.

Practical notes

Storks leave after breeding and the boulders are empty from midsummer. There is almost no shade on the walking circuit. The Vostell museum is contemporary art of a specific kind and not to all tastes.

Nearby

Caceres old town is twelve kilometres east; Malpartida village is alongside.

Key facts