MEET EXTREMADURA
HEALTH TOURISM
EL RAPOSO SPA
CONTENTS:
TECHNICAL DATA
Name
El Raposo Spa
Address
Balneario El Raposo, s/n - 06392 Puebla de Sancho Pérez. Badajoz
Telephone number + 34 924 57 04 10 / 57 04 35 Fax + 34 924 57 04 19
Webside
Dirección
The Cortés Moro Family
Location and access
From Zafra, Córdoba or Mérida take the turn-off on the A-66. The Spa is just 2 kilometres along this local road. From Badajoz take the N-432 to Zafra.
Season
From the 1st of February to the 21st of December.
Spa Opening Hours
Mornings from 9:00 to 14:00.
Evenings from 17:30 to 19:30.
A SHORT HISTORY
The history of the El Raposo (“The Fox”) Spa began in the middle of the 19th century when in 1860, as tradition would have it, a piglet from one of the herd of pigs belonging to the "El Raposo" farm disappeared into the mud which formed a small stream which crossed through the farm. The piglet, which suffered from painful joints was found alive and well a day later by its keeper.
For many years to come the original thermal centre would be known as "La Cochinilla" (the “Piglet”) and only later would it be known as its present day name of “El Raposo", which comes from the name of the farmland in which it is located and where, if we are to judge by its name, there was an abundance of foxes. The fame of this mud and the areas’ waters was such that it proved necessary to build new structures to replace the original mud ponds where the first bathers would immerse themselves.
This enhancement took place around the turn of the century and its main protagonist was a female, Doña Fernanda Durán who worked with great effort and dedication in the construction and the subsequent public, regulated use of the Spa. Erected as a token of gratitude for her management, her statue stands in the landscaped area opposite the Spa, very close to the stream which is of course the origin of the Centre.
Her son, Don Diego Hidalgo Durán, a Minister during the Republic, actively contributed to bringing the railway almost to the very doors of the Spa, which of course encouraged visits by bathers from Extremadura and above all from Andalucía, where “El Raposo” is still as famous today as it was decades ago.
A Royal Order declared the Spa a Public Utility on the 8th of July, 1926. From 1943 the Cortés family and more specifically Don Carlos Cortés Fideli became co-proprietors, together with the Hidalgo family, of the El Raposo Spa, through the Hidalgo and Cortés Company.
El Raposo’s current magnificent installations are due in great part to the work, dedication and enthusiasm which the Cortés Moró family have shown and in particular to the years of effort by Don Antonio Cortés Muñoz who did not hesitate to carry out an important number of improvements and extensions which had their reward in what is now one of Spain’s most modern and attractive establishments.
Today the Cortés Moro family is the Spa’s sole shareholder and management. Year after year they continue to carry out improvements and important extensions for visitors to the thermal station, a recent outstanding example of which is the installation of a clean, thermal solar energy system, tremendously respectful of the environment and which increases the temperature of the spring waters from 17º to 38º or 40ºC.
Bubble baths, paraffin, feet and hand stoves, body and Vichy massages, aerosols, bithermal showers, pressotherapy, solariums and above all, for the delight of visitors and bathers, more than 60,000 square metres of trees and plants which ensure an agreeable and very unique temperature throughout the year.
THE MUD
The mud or “peloid” is made up of clay, weeds, silica, diatoms and certain radioactive elements such as radon. Extracted from the stream, it is stored in maturing tanks or pools which are covered by mineral-medicinal water at room temperature.
Photograpy: The mud
Exposed for between five to eight months to solar radiation, the mud ferments, oxidises and reduces in volume. This process creates the mud’s special and peculiar composition, with its consequent thermo-therapeutic properties.
The natural pools in which patients immersed themselves for decades in order to take their mud baths have been conserved. The El Raposo Spa is the only one in Spain which possesses this type of natural mud and equally unique is the manner of its application, thin layers applied directly on the skin.
THERMAL COSMETICS
Amongst other minerals, the Spa’s waters contain silicon, calcium and magnesium which together with added olive oil have made possible the creation of a line of health and corporal beauty products. Of note amongst this range of cosmetic products are hydro-nutritive creams, hydrating body milk, thermal balm, gel and shampoo, natural eucalyptus, rosemary and thermal mud soap.
THE WATERS
The waters are bicarbonate, calcium, magnesium and radioactive. The concentrated vegetal-mineral mud contains the same mineral elements as the waters. The temperature of the waters in the spring is 17.2ºC and its flow is 4.5 litres per second which means a daily supply of some 400,000 litres.
The waters may be drunk or taken during the different treatments which are available.
THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES
Rheumatologic Indications (Locomotor Apparatus)
Generalised Arthrosis (polyarthrosis) or arthrosis located in specific areas (cervical arthrosis, lumbar arthrosis, coccyx arthrosis...), Trofo Estatic Syndromes, Tendonitis and in particular, periarthritis of the shoulder, Manifestations of radicular pain as a result of disc-ligament alterations (sciatica, cervical-bronchial neuralgias etc.), Completely stabilised Chronic evolved Polyarthritis, Fibrositis, Stabilised Toxic and Metabolic (Gout) Rheumatism.
Respiratory Indications
Infections of the upper respiratory tract (pharyngitis, sinusitis...), Infections of the lower respiratory tracts (asthma, pneumonia, chronic bronchitis, repetitive infections).
Digestive Indications
Peptic Ulcer, Hiatal Hernia, Gastritis, Dyspepsia, Esophagitis.
Dermatological Indications
Psoriasis, Eczemas, Urticarias.
Vascular Indications
Venal Insufficiency, Venal and lymphatic edemas, ”Tired leg” Syndrome.
Nervous System
Stress, Dysthymias, Sleep disorders.
Hypodermal and Connective Tissue Infections
Celulitis and Obesity.
Functional Rehabilitation and Physical Preparation for Athletes.
Disorders of the Nervous System, Disorders of bone and muscular articulations.
Thermal Treatments:
Application of natural mud, Hot water bath, Mud bath, Thermal jet, Ultrasonic aerosol, Hydro-massage bath, Paraffin, Pressotherapy, Jet columns, Vapour stoves, Body massage, Vichy massage, Mud massage, Hydroponic treatment.
FACILITIES
Medical attention and advice throughout the bather’s stay and progress, both in the therapeutic Spa and in the relaxation area. Application of natural mud. For the comfort of customers the use of a bathing costume, a bathrobe and non skid slippers are recommended. Bicycles are available for those who wish to cycle around the estate.
THE SURROUNDING AREA
Almendralejo, Calera de León, Casas de Reina, Fregenal de la Sierra, Fuente del Arco, Fuente de Cantos, Jerez de los Caballeros, Llerena, Mérida, Monesterio, Puebla de Sancho Pérez, Villafranca de los Barros and Zafra.
