Next we reach Olivenza, whose name seems to be derived from oliva by means of the suffix -entia. This suffix, however, is usually applied to verbs, so we could consider here as a base a verb olivar ‘to shape the olive tree, pruning the lower branches’. See Castaño Fernández (236-237). The result -enza must be influenced by the Portuguese (port. Olivença), as the expected result would have been –encia. The town belonged to Portugal from the Treaty of Alcañices (1297) until the Spanish occupation of the territory in the War of the Oranges (1801) and its sanction in the Treaty of Badajoz of that year. However, Portugal does not recognise Olivenza as Spanish and it has historically been in dispute. Precisely, one of the towns in its municipal district is San Benito de la Contienda, which alludes in its name to that ‘dispute’ or ‘struggle’ between the Spanish and Portuguese, like that of the territory ‘shared’ between Moura, Encinasola and Aroche, which is today the Dehesa de la Contienda.

Cited bibliography:

Castaño Fernández, Antonio M. Los nombres de Extremadura. Estudios de toponimia extremeña. Mérida: Editora Regional de Extremadura, 2004.