Plasencia

Plasencia is a walled city founded in the year 1.186. It is located on the bank of the Jerte River, in the Extremadura Region, in the West of Spain, 80 kilometres from the Portuguese border and 250 kilometres from Madrid. The city has 41,047 inhabitants, but woks as central place offering services to more than 200,000 people living in the surrounding area.

Plasencia´s historic downtown is very well preserved. Including two cathedrals and many
churches, abbeys and palaces. The city is a benchmark in cultural heritage-driven local economic development, and to some extent this know-how might be capitalized in terms of smart specialisation. The city has also an extensive background in cross-border cooperation. Plasencia is home to one of the four University of Extremadura campuses, offering degrees in Nursing, Podiatry, Business and Forestry Engineering. The latter is one of the city´s knowledge specialisations and includes the Centre of Ecologic and Mountain Agriculture CAEM.

The City, in collaboration with the Regional and Province Authorities, runs a very complete service to entrepreneurs, and has been awarded by the Regional Government as “Extremenian Entrepreneurship Municipality” for its commitment with the entrepreneurial people.

This activity is developed by the City Department for Employment and Local Development, which works in close cooperation with the so called PAE (Enterprise Activation Point) that is a service delivered by personnel of the Regional Government.

Plasencia has also a remarkable background in stakeholder involvement. The Local Economic and Social Committee (CES-Consejo Económico y Social) is an advisory board including representativesof the civil society. Moreover, the City Council used to appoint focus groups or task forces in specific themes, like environment, disability, women… to support to the Council in analyzing specific issues and make decisions accordingly. Citizens are often called for consultation in major planning processes.