BADAJOZ

city, capital of Badajoz province, in the Extremadura comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), southwestern Spain, on the south bank of the Guadiana River, near the Portuguese frontier; it lies on a low range of hills crowned by a ruined Moorish castle. It originated as Pax Augusta (Pacensis Colonia), a small Roman town, and later flourished as the Batalyaws of the Moors. Freed from Moorish control by Alfonso IX of Len in 1229, Badajoz (the ancient capital of Extremadura) was known as the key to Portugal, and it played strategic roles in both the Peninsular (181112) and Spanish Civil (193639) wars. Badajoz was the birthplace of Manuel de Godoy, duke de Alcudia y de Succa, of the painter Luis Morales, the divine, and of the New World conquistador Pedro de Alvarado. A bastioned wall with moat and outworks and forts on the surrounding heights gives the city an appearance of great strength. The river, which flows between the castle hill and the fort of San Cristbal, is crossed by a granite bridge built in 1596 and rebuilt in 1833. With its massive walls, the cathedral of San Juan (123484) resembles a fortress. Badajoz has a considerable transit trade with Portugal; its principal industries are food processing and the production of alcoholic and other drinks, basketwork, blankets, and wax. Pop. (1981) 99,343. province in the Extremadura comunidad autnoma (autonomous community), the largest province in Spain. Badajoz borders on Portugal and has an area of 8,362 square miles (21,657 square km). It represents 4.3 percent of the country's total area and, with the province of Cceres, comprises the historic region of Extremadura. The climate is characterized by long, hot, dry summers. The terrain is almost entirely flat but rises in the south and southwest near the Sierra Morena, and in the north it joins the foothills of the mountains of Toledo. It is crossed from east to west by the Guadiana River, the most important tributary of which is the Zjar. Typifying the wider central plain is the Barros Plain, the largest cereal-, wine-, and oil-producing region of Extremadura; its main centre is Almendralejo. Other regions in the province produce wool, and livestock raising is important. Industry, primarily agricultural processing, is concentrated in Badajoz (q.v.; the provincial capital), Mrida, Almendralejo, and Villanueva de la Serena. The province's extensive forests are only minimally exploited. In 1952 the Spanish government promoted a project known as the Plan Badajoz, which raised the standard of living, productivity, and agriculture, and intensified development and industrialization in the area. Irrigation was undertaken using the waters of the Guadiana and Zjar, controlled by six dams. The plan provided for new agriculturally based industries, chiefly the production of flour, cotton, and olive oil, and for vegetable preserving. Electrification was also increased, and communications were improved. The Instituto Nacional de Colonizacin (The National Institute of Colonization) created new towns and resettled thousands of people to whom land grants were made. Pop. (1988 est.) 674,046.