import re

text_with_extra_spaces = "  This   text has   many   extra spaces.  "
# Replace one or more whitespace characters with a single space
# .strip() is used to remove leading/trailing whitespace after regex
normalized_text = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', text_with_extra_spaces).strip()

print(f"Original: '{text_with_extra_spaces}'")
print(f"Normalized: '{normalized_text}'")
# Output:
# Original: '  This   text has   many   extra spaces.  '
# Normalized: 'This text has many extra spaces.'