Olive Country: Jaén and the Sierra
The province that grows more olives than anywhere else on earth, its Renaissance towns, and the mountains behind them.
- Cities & Villages4
- Sights & Nature1
- Food & Drink3
Andalusia
- Base1
- Overnight2
- Day Trip1
- Essential2
- Recommended2
This is not a list of pretty towns. It is a working landscape of one crop, with two magnificent Renaissance cities left over from the money that came before it, and a mountain range most visitors to Andalusia never reach.
8 places
Olive Oil from Jaén (Aceite de Oliva Virgen Extra)
The oil the province presses: mostly Picual, fruity and peppery, best bought at the mill.
Olive Country: Jaén
The largest olive-growing province on earth, a landscape of one crop for as far as you can drive.
Jaén
A provincial capital with a fine Renaissance cathedral, Arab baths, and a tapa with most drinks.
Úbeda
A Renaissance town built on 16th-century court money, and the best base for the olive country.
Sierras de Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas
Spain's largest protected area, where the olive groves stop and the pine forest and deer begin.
Pipirrana
Inland Andalusia's summer salad: tomato, pepper, onion and oil, chopped small and salted.
Baeza
Úbeda's quieter neighbour, with a university, a plaza, and twenty minutes of road between them.
Cazorla
The gateway town below the Sierra, with a castle on the hill and the park road behind it.
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