Andalucia information
Above all else - and there is plenty - its great all the Moorish
Monuments that compete for your attention in Andalucia, The
moors, a mixed race of Berbers and Arabs who crossed into
Spain from Morocco and North Africa, occupied andalucia for
over seven centuries.
These three cities have, of course, become major tourist destinations,
but the smaller inland towns of Andalucia are often totally
unspoiled. These is an amazing potential; Renaissence towns
such as Ubeda, Baeza and Osuna Guadix with its caves, Moorish
Carmona and the stark white hill towns around Ronda, are all
easily accssible by local buses.
The province also takes in mountains, Sierra Nevada where
you can ski in Febraury, and then drive down to the coast
for a swim, the same day. Perhaps more compelling, though,
are the opportunities for walking in the lower slopes, Las
Alpujarras. Alternatively, there´s good trekking amongst the
gentler hills of Sierra Morena.
Extending Malaga is the Costa del sol, Europe's most heavily
developed resort area, with its beaches hidden behind a remorseless
density of concrete hotels and apartment complexes. However,
the province takes in two alternatives, much less developed
and with some of the best beaches in all Spain. These are
the villages between Tarifa and Cádiz on the Atlantic, and
those around Almeria on the southeast corner of the Mediterranean.
The Almerian beaches allow warm swimming through all but the
winter months; those near Cádiz, more easily accesible, are
fine from about June to September. Near Cádiz, too, is the
Coto de Doñana national park.
Doñana National park, spain's largest and most important nature
reserve.
Andalucia is also Spain at its most exuberant the home of
flamenco and the bullfight, and those wild and extravagant
cliches of the hundreds of annual fiestas, ferias and romerías.
The best of them include the gigan April Feria in Sevilla,
the ageless pilgrimage to El Rocio near Huelva in late May,
and the dramatically moving Semana Santa (Easter) celebrations
at Málaga, Granada, Sevilla Cordoba and Jerez.
|
|