Plasencia

Plasencia is a city and municipality in Spain, located in the northern part of the province of Cáceres in the autonomous community of Extremadura. The municipality does not form part of any municipal association with surrounding towns and geographically borders municipalities from six municipal associations: Valle del Jerte, La Vera, Monfragüe and its surroundings, Valle del Alagón, Ambroz Valley, and Trasierra - Tierras de Granadilla. Physically, the city is situated at the gateway to the Valle del Jerte, although administratively it does not belong to it, as the four major population centers in Extremadura are not part of any comarca or municipal association.
The municipal territory of Plasencia covers an area of 217.94 km² and includes the city of Plasencia as well as the minor local entities of San Gil and Pradochano. The municipality has a population of 39,829 inhabitants, making it the second most populous in the province of Cáceres and the fourth in Extremadura. The city is the episcopal see of its own diocese and the capital of the judicial district no. 4 of the province. As the most populous city in northern Extremadura, it is home to various services of the General State Administration and the Government of Extremadura, serving both its residents and those of numerous neighboring municipalities.
It was founded as a city by King Alfonso VIII of Castile in 1186. Its establishment was driven by military strategy considerations during the Reconquista, as the city was located just a few kilometers from the Castilian borders with the Kingdom of León to the west and the Muslim territories to the south. The border with León was marked in this area by the Vía de la Plata, an important Roman road now used as a hiking route. Until the 19th century, it was the capital of the Sexmo of Plasencia, a community of villages that covered a quarter of the current province of Cáceres. Despite not exceeding twenty thousand inhabitants until the 1960 census, significant events occurred in the city, such as the marriage of Joanna la Beltraneja during the Castilian War of Succession and the initiative to purchase a vote in the Cortes of Castile, which led to the creation of the Province of Extremadura in 1653.
The municipality's economy is primarily based on the service sector, with over a thousand commercial establishments in the city. At the beginning of the 20th century, the municipality had its own savings bank, which later became the foundation of Caja de Extremadura. Tourism is significant, as its historic center is declared a cultural heritage site and the city has two festivals declared of tourist interest: Martes Mayor and Holy Week. The city has a university center affiliated with the University of Extremadura, offering four undergraduate degrees and one master's degree.

Etymology

The city's toponym derives from the motto given by its founder, King Alfonso VIII of Castile, in the coat of arms granted to the city: "Ut placeat Deo et Hominibus", a Latin phrase meaning "To please God and men". However, before Alfonso VIII's arrival, there was an inhabited place in the area whose exact name is unknown, possibly called Ambroz, Ambrosía, Ambracia, or Pagus Ambracensis.
;Demonym
The most commonly used demonym for the inhabitants of Plasencia is "placentino". According to the Dictionary of the Spanish Language, this word derives from the Latin Placentīnus and can be used as a demonym for both the Extremaduran municipality and the Italian city of Piacenza. The Royal Spanish Academy also recognizes the terms "plasentino" and "plasenciano" as valid demonyms for the Extremaduran town.
;Homonymous localities
There are other localities in the world that share the same name as the city on the Jerte River. In Spain, there are the municipality of Plasencia de Jalón in the province of Zaragoza and the hamlet of Plasencia del Monte in the province of Huesca. In Spanish, the Italian city of Piacenza, with which the Extremaduran city is twinned, is often referred to as Plasencia.
Another very similar name is Placencia, a municipality in Belize named by Spanish explorers and which shares its name with the Guipuzcoan municipality of Placencia de las Armas. Placencia and Plasencia can be homophones in some Spanish dialects due to seseo and ceceo.
In Canada, there is a municipality called Placentia, in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, whose name derives directly from the city on the Jerte River. In California, there is also another Placentia. In Italy, there is also a municipality called Piacenza, the homonymous capital belonging to the Emilia-Romagna region, also referred to as Plasencia in Spanish.

Symbols

The heraldic shield of Plasencia is one of the oldest in the province, as Alfonso VIII of Castile inscribed the motto Ut placeat Deo et hominibus on it at the end of the 12th century. The coat of arms, without the motto, is heraldically described as follows:
The flag, which features the coat of arms in its center, is described as follows:
Several towns in the former Sexmo of Plasencia have incorporated Plasencia's coat of arms into theirs, including Navaconcejo.

Geography

The city is located 80 kilometers from the provincial capital. The municipality's terrain is varied, featuring the last elevations of the Sierra de Gredos, which contrast with the Valle del Jerte and the first typical Extremaduran dehesas. The Sierra del Gordo, to the north, is part of the Montes de Traslasierra, with its highest point being Pico Gordo. To the northeast is the Sierra de San Bernabé, a branch of the Sierra de Tormantos, reaching up to 790 meters in this area. To the southwest is the Sierra de Berenguel, where Pico Merengue stands out. The Jerte River, in its lower course, is the most significant river, just before it flows into the Alagón River. Its waters are dammed at the Plasencia Reservoir. The altitude ranges from 998 meters to 260 meters along the banks of the Jerte River. The urban area stands at 352 meters above sea level.
The municipal territory of Plasencia borders the following municipalities:

Northwest: Valdeobispo	North: Oliva de Plasencia and Cabezabellosa	Northeast: Casas del Castañar and Gargüera
West: Carcaboso, Aldehuela de Jerte, and Galisteo		East: Malpartida de Plasencia
Southwest: Riolobos and Cañaveral	South: Malpartida de Plasencia	Southeast: Malpartida de Plasencia

Hydrography

Almost the entire municipal territory lies within the hydrographic basins of the Jerte River and Alagón River, with the former being a tributary of the latter, which in turn is a tributary of the Tagus River. The confluence of the Jerte River into the Alagón River is located downstream of Plasencia, in the municipality of Galisteo. Four kilometers upstream from the city is the Plasencia Reservoir, built in 1985 with a capacity of 59 hm³, which regulates the discharge passing through the city, preventing floods. The reservoir's purpose is to supply drinking water to the population. There are no significant aquifers in the municipality.

Climate

According to the Papadakis climate classification system, most of the municipal territory of Plasencia falls within the continental Mediterranean climate. In the sierras surrounding Plasencia, the climate corresponds to temperate Mediterranean and cool Mediterranean classifications. Summers are very warm during sunlight hours and cool at night, while winters are cold. In the coldest months, temperatures drop below 0 °C, and in the hottest months, temperatures rarely exceed 40 °C. Consequently, the city experiences less extreme heat compared to other cities in the region.
According to the Köppen-Geiger climate classification, Plasencia has a subtropical climate with dry, hot summers, classified as Csa.
The climate in this area, despite its relative proximity to the microclimate of the Valle del Jerte and the nearby Sierra de Gredos, is similar to that found in the Extremaduran dehesa, given the similar altitude above sea level. However, due to the longitudinal orography of the Sierra de Gredos, precipitation is higher than in the rest of the central plateau, though in absolute terms, it is more similar to the southern plateau than to mountainous regions such as the Ambroz Valley or Jerte Valley. Significant differences in precipitation can occur within the same weather event between the city and municipalities just 20 kilometers to the north. Rainfall ranges between 800 and 1000 mm annually, scarce during the summer but slightly higher than in the Extremaduran capitals.

Nature

;Flora
The original vegetation in the region has been altered by human intervention. The most forested flora was replaced by agriculture and pastures. The current vegetation cover consists mainly of dehesas of holm oaks and cork oaks, as well as grasslands, riparian vegetation, irrigated lands, and urban flora in parks and gardens.
The olive grove is mainly found on the slopes of the Sierra de Santa Bárbara, arranged in terraces, but this area is now heavily urbanized. The holm oak groves are found in dehesas, while the cork oak groves are located in the northern part of the municipality. Cork oak groves cover approximately 1200 ha and also form dehesas like the holm oak groves. In the Valcorchero dehesa, there are mixed areas of holm and cork oaks. Pastures are used for livestock exploitation and often correspond to abandoned croplands. The shrubland in the area mainly consists of broom with pastures, also used for seasonal livestock exploitation.
Riparian vegetation primarily consists of small plantations of poplars. Irrigated lands are concentrated mainly along the banks of the Jerte River downstream of the city, although there are also some family orchards near the urban center.
;Fauna
The municipality's dehesas are used as pastures for grazing goats, sheep, and cattle. During the summer months, the practice of transhumance brings the livestock to cooler areas of Castile and León. Alongside domestic mammals, there are wild mammals such as various species of voles and field mice, the hedgehog, and the rabbit.
The most diverse group is that of birds. Occasionally, large birds of prey such as booted eagles or peregrine falcons, which live in the Monfragüe National Park and the foothills of the Sierra de Gredos, fly to Plasencia in search of food. The most common bird species are passerines such as the common chaffinch, blue tit, European serin, Iberian magpie, mistle thrush, woodlark, short-toed treecreeper, woodchat shrike, spotless starling, great tit, European goldfinch, common linnet, house sparrow, various species of cuckoo, and, in winter, the wood pigeon. Also present in the municipality are partridges and quails.
Among the amphibians and reptiles in the area, notable species include various types of frogs, the Montpellier snake, the ocellated lizard, several species of lizards, and the common gecko. In the Jerte River and its banks, there are several fish species such as barbel, ide, calandino, tench, and spined loach.
;Geology
The municipality is located within the Hesperian Massif, in the southern part of the Central Iberian Zone. Stratigraphically, Precambrian sediments predominate, consisting of graywackes and slates, as well as granite from the Béjar-Plasencia area.
Tertiary and Quaternary sediments are also found, mainly linked to the fluvial system. Tertiary deposits are located in the Coria basin and the Messejana-Plasencia fault-dike system. Quaternary sediments are more prominent in the various alluvial platforms related to the Jerte River. The most common materials are pebbles of quartz, schists, and granites in a sandy-clayey matrix. Granitic rocks from the Béjar-Plasencia area occupy the northern part of the territory. There are no indications of mineral exploitation in the municipality. There were quarries for extracting various materials, including industrial ceramics, from the Tertiary deposits. However, all of these quarries have been abandoned.