... people were herding sheep and goats, fixing the curious flat roofs of their whitewashed houses, maintaining the irrigation channels cut into the hillside by the Moors centuries earlier, roasting pork ribs on embers in the street at fiestas, treading solemnly to Mass, taking time to chew things over with a neighbour, sitting in the musty shadow of a stable over a glass of strong local wine.

What is so special about La Alpujarra is that – another twenty years down the road – all these things still go on. Even today, when the children have computers and even old ladies in mourning black have a mobile phone tucked away, the hearts and minds of the people and their bind to tradition are largely unchanged and likely to remain that way. The handful of foreigners that lived among the hardworking villagers in those days may have grown to form a community of individuals from all over the world, but the Alpujarra has absorbed them, makes allowances for them, finds them curious – and gets on with its old ways.

It is against the background of this old world,rooted deeply in family life, that any experience of La Alpujarra takes place. When you are gazing at the mountains, you may also see, way below you, a man tilling the earth for his onions and peppers, growing vegetables for his family table.

The almond blossom you ramble past in January will be fruit picked late in the year and made into thick winter soup. The water that gushes past you in high summer as you saunter down a slope through chestnut trees is being carefully channelled to tomatoes and melons, strawberries and lettuce.

After a day or two in La Alpujarra, don’t be surprised if the rush goes out of you and you find yourself adopting calmer, more natural rhythms: it’s a place to take in, along with the fresh spring water that bursts out in fountains and the healthy air that stirs many an appetite and thirst.

View holiday villas and cottages in Las Alpujarras

---

The High Alpujarra (Capileira, Bubión & La Taha de Pitres)

The Moors are long gone and forgotten, of course, the village mosques replaced by Catholic churches, the silkworms gone from the mulberry trees, but the acequias and albercas  – irrigation channels and ditches –  the Berber architecture and the influence in recipes and place names are all still there. The Moors were still the dominant culture in La Alpujarra long after the rest of moslem Spain had fallen to the Christian conquerors, holding out and cherishing their customs and faith. If Granada relinquished the jewel of the Alhambra to the Christian monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, it was over a hundred years before the last Moors would leave the refuge of their last kingdom high up in the Andalusian skies.

They built hamlets and villages on the hillsides with typical populations of 70 or 300 or 12. It hasn’t changed much. Even larger settlements, like the three better-known villages of the Poqueira Gorge (Capileira, Bubión and Pampaneira)  house fewer than a thousand inhabitants. What has risen, to the satisfaction of visitors and the alpujarreños themselves, are the living conditions and local facilities.

Bars and cafés, shops and restaurants have become a commonplace as the area has embraced tourism, now outweighing all other concerns as the key source of employment in La Alpujarra. The roads are good and so are the free tapas you are served with your drinks.

Holiday homes, some of them simple and rustic, others quite luxurious, attract people from all walks of life and all over the world, many of them genuinely intrigued by the history and reality of this unusual mountain  world and its extraordinarily spectacular landscapes. Self-catering rental cottages and apartments are generally preferred to hotels as a more economic and homely stay.

For a holiday, La Alpujarra is a restful, fascinating destination, unspoiled by the ruder impact tourism has made on the costas. Ancient, whitewashed villages dotted around the southern flanks of the Sierra Nevada, such as the hamlets of the Taha de Pitres, wait to be explored by foot, car, mountain bike or horseback.

In winter, snows sparkle under blue sky on the Sierra Nevada and the sunsets are a crimson extravagance. Spring scatters a craziness of wildflowers all around and summer speaks of long, lazy days. Autumn, as gentle and welcoming as an old friend, is considered by many as the connoisseur’s choice.

Find out more about: the High Alpujarra

See: Villas in Capileira & Bubion

See all: Villas in Las Alpujarras


The Low Alpujarra (Orgiva & Lanjarón)

Less spectacular but significantly warmer – semi-tropical in its vegetation of palm trees, orange and lemons, avocado and bougainvillea – the Low Alpujarra is the preferred destination of those who plan a pool and sunbathing holiday option.

The main population centres of Orgiva (some 5,000 inhabitants) and Lanjarón seem almost modern by comparison with the historical villages of the High Alpujarra and their demographic make-up is more varied. Orgiva especially has become the home of many people from other European countries, from middle-class retirees to New Age travellers, all seeking a new, more carefree lifestyle.

Just outside the Alpujarra’s capital, Orgiva, and nearby Lanjarón is sunny countryside of olives and the fertile river valley of the Guadalfeo. Here are a goodly number of villas with pool, often with private gardens in pretty, secluded spots. In one hour, you can be in Granada to visit the Alhambra or at a beach on the Costa Tropical.

Offering as it does the Sierra Nevada National Park, a host of trails to wander, Granada and the coast within easy driving for day trips, La Alpujarra is a natural choice, and likely to remain that way.

Find out more about: Orgiva & Lanjarón in the Low Alpujarra

See all: Villas in Las Alpujarras