Illustrious Characters

Ángel Rodríguez Álvarez & Agustín Sánchez Rodrigo

The teacher Ángel Rodríguez Álvarez created and developed the pedagogical approach of learning to read and write simultaneously known as the "Stripes" method, which was disseminated by Agustín Sánchez Rodrigo using his printing press, located in Serradilla on the current Calle de la Imprenta (Print Street).

These two local men contributed to the advancement of literacy by Spanish speakers worldwide, distributing more than 60 million copies of booklets containing their "Stripes" method.

Marcelo Rivas Mateo

Marcelo Rivas Mateo was a doctor, professor of pharmacology, botanist, geobotanist, zoologist and academic of national prestige. He was born in Serradilla (Cáceres) in 1875 and died in Madrid in 1931 at the age of 56.

The botanical abbreviation "Riv.Mateos" is used to indicate Marcelo Rivas Mateos as an authority in the description and scientific classification of plants. The list of all the genera and species described by this author can be found at the IPNI (International Plant Nutrition institute).

His father José Rivas was the Serradilla pharmacist, and his son Salvador Rivas Goday and grandson Salvador Rivas Martínez have continued the family profession brilliantly.

Beata Francisca de Oviedo y Palacios

Born in Plasencia in 1588, Francisca of Oviedo y Palacios founded the convent of Cristo de la Victoria, part of the order of the Agustinian Recollect Sisters, in 1656, by means of 600,000 ducats in contributions that she collected in the province of Cáceres and at the Court of Felipe IV of Spain.

She also instigated the construction of a hospital for the poor, and commissioned the image of the Santísimo Cristo de la Victoria, a work by the sculptor Domingo de Rioja created around 1635, and which was first venerated in Madrid in the Church of San Ginés and in the chapel of the Royal Palace, and then in Plasencia, until finally arriving in Serradilla in 1641.

Francisca died in Serradilla in 1659, a few years after founding the convent. There is a bronze statue in her honour in front of the façade of the Agustinas Recoletas convent, as well as a street named after her.

El Cabrerín

Born in Serradilla, Juan Morales González, nicknamed "El Cabrerín" was one of the most famous bandits of the Monfragüe region and its surroundings during the 19th century. At a very young age he was forced to "head for the mountains" where he met other fugitives from justice, eventually becoming the leader of a gang of free roaming bandits that held sway over these lands for many years.

In one of his incursions through Andalusia, the "El Cabrerín" gang was arrested and Juan was sentenced to 55 years in the Ceuta prison. After being released in 1892 at the age of 79 he returned to his home region to spend his last years of life here.

The residents of his hometown shot a feature film called “Territorio de Bandoleros” telling his story. It premiered in Serradilla in 2013 before a crowd of more than 3,000 spectators, and it has received several regional and national awards for its unique approach.

See the Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qYzJhPtrQI