Thermal Circuit at the El Raposo Spa

Mud from a stream and a pool at 32.8 °C

El Raposo is a spa in the middle of the countryside, in the municipality of Puebla de Sancho Pérez, about 11 km and a quarter of an hour by car south-east of Zafra. Its history begins in 1860, when people in the area started to take notice of the waters and mud of the stream that crosses the valley; in 1926 it was declared of public utility. Today it is one of the few spas in Spain, and according to its website the only one in Extremadura, that works with natural mud: it is taken from the stream, matured in tanks covered with medicinal mineral water and left in the sun for five to eight months before it is used.

The hour-long circuit, step by step

The thermal circuit lasts 60 minutes. At its heart is an active heated pool with the water at 32.8 °C, sequential underwater jets, bubble beds and seats, a waterfall and a leg phlebotherapy area. In the same room are the dry sauna, the steam sauna, an ice area, an aromatic shower and heated loungers to finish. The pool water is disinfected with ozone, a system the spa uses so as not to alter its properties. The mud is not part of the circuit: it is a separate treatment, like the massages given by the spa's own physiotherapists, the parafango or the body wraps.

From the €55 pass to the massage-and-meal pass

The spa sells the circuit as passes that can be bought on its website. Without a hotel night, the cheapest is the thermal circuit with lunch or dinner, at €55 per person. Next come the circuit with Aquathermojet (€56), with massage (€64 for the therapeutic one, €66 for the pleasure and wellbeing one), with massage and a meal (€87) or with massage, infrared and parafango for the back (€90). If you want to sleep there, the one-night pass with circuit costs €125 for two people in a double room.

The website does not publish the circuit's opening hours, the minimum age or what you need to bring (swimsuit, cap, flip-flops or bathrobe). Before you go, call 924 570 410 or 696 259 147, or write to [email protected], and book a day and time.

Eleven kilometres towards Puebla de Sancho Pérez

From Zafra, about 11 km in the direction of Puebla de Sancho Pérez. The spa has its own four-star hotel: the Hotel Balneario El Raposo listing describes the rooms and the half-board breaks. If you are only coming for the afternoon, the Sunday in Zafra plan leaves it for after the Plaza Grande and the Plaza Chica and lunch in the centre.