AMAYA GARCÍA Extremadura
Estremadura
Updated Wednesday, March 27, 2024-23:49
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Simón Roselló
's dream
was to always have his own livestock. In 2007, this entrepreneur, the second generation at the head of Carnes March de Ibiza, began searching on the Internet for farms that adapted to what he was looking for. "We saw many," recalls Marga (34), his daughter, and fell in love with one located a few kilometers from
Valverde del Fresno
(Cáceres). "It had 40 or 50 Retinta cows - the most common in the region -, water, which is today's oil, 40 hectares of olive groves and a house with water and electricity to accommodate us when we came."
Livestock seemed increasingly closer, but then they did not even dream of the project that they would finally create, where
gastronomy, well-being and nature
have fit perfectly with the magic of the Extremadura pasture as a background setting.
Hotel's pool.
Habitat Cigüeña Negra is a charming 12-room boutique hotel
around
which
this
family story now revolves. Although it is true that at the beginning Marga did not want to get too involved, after the inauguration that August 24, 2021, she took the reins as host. "In principle it was going to be a
rural house
," she says, sitting in the living room on the ground floor, next to the restaurant, which
won the green star at the last
Michelin guide gala.
As they went along they changed things and added others. "We realized that there was an option to build a swimming pool (a
very desirable
infinity pool ), then we thought about incorporating
a hamman
—the spa was very visible— and finally came the restaurant —here the meat makes the difference—" . What was going to be a year of construction was extended to three, but
the accommodation was perfect
and today it is, without a doubt, the hotel and gastronomic reference in the area.
The living room of the rural complex.
Since they acquired the 220 hectares of farm,
livestock farming
became the priority. "The idea was to offer something different in our butcher shops in Ibiza," recalls Marga. Large food chains were beginning to set up shop on the island and survival required differentiation in quality. "In 2017 we bought two Wagyu stallions from a German and crossed them with the
Retinta breed
," she adds.
The result is exquisite meat that has turned your dining room into a destination in itself. "We started selling it in stores and to some restaurants on the island, but then we decided to open our own restaurant and offer it there." The
tomahawk is the star piece
of the menu.
The restaurant with the kitchen in the background.
The attention to detail marks the philosophy of this
adults-only
hotel in which the sunset from its viewpoint deserves a monument. The
colors of the rooms
have been taken care of
– the design is by
Emmme Studio
– but also the
amenities
in the rooms. "We put a lot of effort into service because that is where the essence of everything lies," says Marga.
The winding path to the main road offers a last photo of the pasture, the one that, surrounded by
holm oaks, olive trees and oaks
, is halfway between Valverde del Fresno and Ibiza.
The exquisite meat that has become a brand of the house.
ANIMALS CARED FOR WITH CARE AND OWN EVOO
The remote valley of Jálama is one of the refuges of the black stork, emblem of this territory that gives its name to the hotel. In front of the accommodation, where there are many windows overlooking the pasture, this family and their team carefully raise cattle and acorn-fed Iberian pigs. In addition, they have their own oil mill where they produce organic extra virgin olive oil. On the farm they have recovered 50 hectares of Cáceres manzanilla olive trees.
More information: Black Stork Habitat.
Highway EX-205, Km. 24, Camino de la Granja at 4 km. Valverde del Fresno (Cáceres). Web: habitatcn.com/es The hotel has 12 rooms, with fireplace and 'vintage' bathtub. From 165 euros.
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