Ladrillar

Ladrillar municipality
Ladrillar - View of the hamlet of Las Mestas
coat of arms	Map of Spain
Basic data
Autonomous Community :	Extremadura
Province :	Cáceres
Comarca :	Las Hurdes
Coordinates	40 ° 28 ′  N , 6 ° 14 ′  W Coordinates: 40 ° 28 ′  N , 6 ° 14 ′  W
Height :	690  msnm
Area :	53.03 km²
Residents :	201 (Jan. 1, 2019)
Population density :	3.79 inhabitants / km²
Postal code :	10625
Municipality number  ( INE ):	10108
administration
Website :	Ladrillar

Ladrillar is a place and a western Spanish municipality ( municipio ) with 201 inhabitants (as of 2019) in the extreme north of the province of Cáceres in the autonomous region of Extremadura . The hamlets (pedanías) Cabezo , Las Mestas and Riomalo de Arriba also belong to the municipality .

location

The place Ladrillar belongs to the landscape of the Hurdes and is about 150 km (driving distance) north of the provincial capital Cáceres near the border to the neighboring region Castile-León in the southern foothills of the Sierra de Gata , the westernmost part of the Iberian Mountains at an altitude of almost 690  m . The climate is temperate to warm; Rain (approx. 550 mm / year) falls mainly in the winter half-year.

Population development

year	1857	1900	1950	2000	2017
Residents	528	919	1,161	314	209

The dramatic population decline since the 1950s is essentially due to the mechanization of agriculture , the abandonment of small farms and the associated loss of jobs.

economy

The area has served the people since ancient times as a summer pasture for their herds of sheep and goats. After settling down, olives, vines and figs began to be grown; later other types of fruit (apples, cherries, etc.) were added. In earlier centuries, the cultivation of barley and other crops served mainly for self-sufficiency . The most important trade goods were charcoal as well as cheese and honey . Nowadays the most important source of income for the place is tourism in the form of the rental of holiday homes (casas rurales) .

history

Neolithic hunters and gatherers roamed the area; some seem to have stayed longer because there are several steles with incised drawings. The Celts , Romans , Visigoths and Moors paid only marginal attention to the mountain region used by cattle nomads ( transhumants ) as summer pasture. The first permanent settlements probably emerged in the High Middle Ages, but at that time there were neither churches nor chapels; these only emerged from the 17th to 19th centuries. In 1922, the Spanish King Alfonso XIII. on his journey through the Hurdes in the hamlet of Las Mestas Station.

Attractions

Las Mestas - Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen

• The church of San Salvador dates from the 18th century and belongs to the diocese of Coria . Their distinguishing feature is the protruding portal zone made of unplastered field stones with a two-part bell gable (espadaña) .

Surroundings

• More interesting is the 17th century church of Nuestra Señora del Carmen in the hamlet of Las Mestas . The only adornment of the church built from collected field stones is its bell gable. The former west portal was walled up; Instead, the little church received a new entrance with a vestibule on the south side.

Web links

Commons : Ladrillar  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Ladrillar, hikes in the area - photos + information (Spanish)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Cifras oficiales de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal a 1 de enero . Population statistics from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (population update).
2. ↑ Ladrillar / Casares de las Hurdes - climate tables
3. ↑ Ladrillar - Population Development