HEALTH TOURISM

THE FUENTES DEL TRAMPAL SPA

CONTENTS:

• TECHNICAL DATA
• A SHORT HISTORY
• THE WATERS
• THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES
• SERVICIOS
• FACILITIES
• THE SURROUNDING AREA

TECHNICAL DATA

Name

The Fuentes del Trampal

Address

Ctra. Carmonita, Km. 34 - Montánchez. Badajoz

Telephone number +34 924 12 30 18 Fax +34 924 12 33 70

E-mail: fuentedeltrampal@telefonica.net

Director

Dª. Amelia Prieto

 

Location and access

From Mérida or Cáceres take the A-66 or the N-630 until the turn-off towards Carmonita. Some 10 kilometres along this road we turn to the right, following the signs to the Spa itself.

From Badajoz, drive through Montijo, Nava de Santiago and Cordobilla de Lácara.

Season

From the 15th of February to the 18th of December.

Spa Opening Hours

Mornings from 08:30 to 13:30

Evenings from 17:00 to 19:00

A SHORT HISTORY

Interesting references have come down through the centuries regarding the origin and use of the Fuentes del Trampal waters which are famous both within Extremadura and beyond. Newspapers and specialised magazines from many decades ago serve as testimony to the popular use of these oligometalic waters by neighbours from nearby villages and indeed from far lying areas, who bathed in this area using large earthenware jars and who experienced significant improvements in their conditions.

Originally these baths went under the name of “El Trampal” which is a very common local name – witness its most famous manifestation in the important nearby Visigoth basilisk of Santa Lucía del Trampal, just a few kilometres from where the Fuentes del Trampal Spa stands today.

Various 19th century citations describe the properties of the waters, for example in 1876 J. Egozcue and L. Mallada discussed them in that year’s Geological Map of Spain - to be more exact, in the Mineral Springs section.

Don Atanasio Moreno’s 1905 manuscript concerning the "Mineral-medicinal Waters of Fuentes del Trampal de Carmonita" qualifies them as "ferruginous and gaseous" and clarifies the use being made of them at that time, both for drinking and for bathing. At the beginning of the 19th century, in 1904 to be more precise, Don Vicente Elena Sánchez decided to purchase this land and the wells which supplied water to that then incipient Spa, located in a woody area in the middle of the countryside.

Throughout that century reports and analysis confirmed the excellent qualities of these waters and the pertinent use thereof in cases of anaemia, arthrosis, rheumatism, skin infections, allergies, etc. From the 1950’s on, regular medical attention was provided either by the General Practitioners of neighbouring villages such as Carmonita or by specialists brought specially to the Spa.

The heirs of Don Vicente Elena Sánchez or to be more specific, the Prieto Elena family, decided to carry out important improvements to the inadequate installations that they had inherited.

The 1990s was a decisive decade for the refurbishment and construction of the new Fuentes del Trampal Spa and in 1993 a new era began, complete with modern installations in line with present day hydro-thermal requirements. Between 1999 and 2000 advanced thermal facilities and treatments were added such as the sauna, the thermal swimming pool, aerosols, various types of massage, etc.

The proprietors have added to the already important bathing area other really useful facilities for visitors and the Spa now boasts an hotel, a restaurant, landscaped gardens, a covered pool and sizeable car parks etc.

There can be no doubt that the success of this Spa is due to the personal steadfastness of the Prieto Elena Family which has turned it into an indispensable point of reference amongst Extremadura’s thermal sites for those young or old visitors and their companions, who come in search of health and relaxation to what really is a most beautiful spot.

THE WATERS

They are oligometalic and of weak mineralisation. Bicarbonate and chloride anions predominate and as far as the cations are concerned, calcium, magnesium and sodium. There is a pronounced presence of iron and they may be used externally or taken as a drink.

THERAPEUTIC PROPERTIES

Anaemic Conditions

Ferriprive condition, Hyperchromic ferriprive anaemia.

Chronic Locomotor Apparatus Conditions

Rheumatism, Post-traumatism, Neurologies.

Skin Infections

Piodermitis, Aboral Eczema, Psoriasis.

Allergies and Arthrosis

Conditions of Physical and Psychic Overload.

FACILITIES

Besides receiving medical advice and attention from the beginning of their stay, bathers may also enjoy the following resources:

Sauna, Thermal swimming pool, Aerosols, Paraffin, Vichy massage, Inhalations, Scotch showers, Circular showers, Jet baths, Individual baths, Trekking, Bicycle tours, Pony trekking, Restaurant, Cafeteria.

THE SURROUNDING AREA

Alcuéscar, Cáceres, Mérida and Cornalvo Nature Park