In the province of Badajoz is La Codosera, which is a toponym of notable interest as it is a phytonymic derivative from codeso, very common in the west of the peninsula. In addition, in the same municipal district there are different population entities, whose names reflect their Portuguese origin, such as La Tojera, a group…

Badajoz, which forms a Eurocity with Elvas together with Campomayor -port. Campo Maior-, and without Olivenza, does not have a clear original name either. Various hypotheses have been put forward, such as the ar. balad al-lawz ‘city of almonds’, although it may be an earlier name. The city was founded in 875 by Ibn Marwan…

Elvas is a toponym of obscure origin, of which it can only be noted that in the Arabic writings of Al-Idrisi it appears written as elbax (12th century). See DOELP (s. v.), where the hypothesis that Elvas has its origin in the Roman anthroponym Elvius or Helvius is ruled out. Cited bibliography:  – DOELP =…

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…

From Portuguese phonetics, we can glimpse the Badajoz word Cheles, from the Latin planellas, referring to the flatness of the terrain, although there are doubts as to its etymology and motivation. The ending -es has also been seen as a Mozarabism. See Castaño Fernández (120-121). Cited bibliography: Castaño Fernández, Antonio M. Los nombres de Extremadura.…

The name of Valencia is repeated in other towns along the border, such as Valencia de Alcántara or Valença -cast. Valencia del Miño – in Portugal. The name is generally cultured, as in Plasencia or Benquerencia, and recalls those of Roman times as propitiatory toponyms (“that one which has value”, “the brave”, “the poweful”) cf.…

An obvious allusion to the frontier is Rosal de la Frontera. Rosal is not a frequent place name, but it is true that there is an O Rosal -cast. El Rosal- as a town name in Pontevedra, and also an O Rosal in Oímbra (Orense), both along the Raya.

It is the most north-western town in Andalusia, bordering Extremadura and Portugal. The holm oak, together with the cork oak -and later the oak-, is the characteristic tree of the area and of practically the whole of this western strip of Spain. According to some legends, the name comes from a solitary tree under which…

Sanlúcar comes, like its other Andalusian namesakes, from the ár. saluq “east wind, east”, with reference in this case to the situation on the eastern bank of the Guadiana. This etym seems more likely than a possible lat. sub lucare “at the foot of the forest”, suggested by Nieto Ballester (311-312). In any case, Sanlúcar…

The Portuguese name of Vila Real is given to towns founded by monarchs and directly dependent on them. The town, in fact, was founded by D. José I in 1774 [Vid. DOELP (s. v. Vila Real1)]. As a curiosity, the name occasionally appears in acronyms: VRSA; this has a certain logic from a functional point…