The Guadiana

You've now got a wide-open view of the Guadiana River and the striking Lusitania Bridge. It's named after Lusitania, the Roman province whose capital was Augusta Emerita, or modern-day Merida. That province once covered much of what is now Portugal, as well as parts of the León and Extremadura regions. The bridge was completed in 1993 and designed by none other than Santiago Calatrava, one of Spain’s most renowned contemporary architects. You might know some of his other work, like the futuristic TGV station at Lyon Saint-Exupéry Airport, the Oriente Station in Lisbon, the breathtaking City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, or the stunning white auditorium in Tenerife. He’s really a big deal. This bridge was built to protect the Roman bridge by turning it into a pedestrian walkway and redirecting vehicle traffic over here. The Guadiana River, flowing right below, has always run alongside Merida. It starts in the southern part of the central plateau and empties into the Atlantic Ocean. It even forms the natural border between Spain and Portugal. Back in Roman times, it was known as the Ana River, Flumen Ana. When the Muslims came, they replaced the Latin “flumen” with “wadi,” the Arabic word for river or valley. Later, after the Christian Reconquista, Wadi Ana gradually morphed into Guadiana. You’ll see “Guad” in many other Arabic-influenced place names in Spain, a lingering trace of wadi, often linked to water, like Guadalquivir, Guadalajara, Guadarrama, or Guadalete.