Laujar de Andarax
Stay here if you want to walk the Alpujarra Almeriense properly. One night is enough otherwise.
The service centre and the best base for the Almería Alpujarra, with Moorish irrigation still running.
At a Glance
Laujar de Andarax is the largest village of the Almería Alpujarra and the only one with real services: a health centre, banks, a couple of hotels and the best selection of places to eat. It sits at 900 metres under the southern flank of the Sierra Nevada, where springs break out of the mountain and the irrigation channels that feed the terraces begin. The church, the plaza and the chestnut groves around it are the reasons to stay rather than pass; the town was the seat of the last Moorish governor of the region, and the water system is still his inheritance.
How it got here
Boabdil, the last Nasrid monarch of Granada, chose this town as his final residence after the fall of his kingdom in 1492. The town acted as the administrative center for the Alpujarra during the Moorish period, and the irrigation network that channels water from the Sierra Nevada into the terraces dates to these centuries of Islamic rule. After the Morisco Revolt of 1568 and the subsequent expulsion of the population, the crown redistributed the lands to settlers from other parts of Spain. The town retains the layout and the hydraulic infrastructure that define the agricultural character of the mountain valleys.
Where it sits
The village clings to the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada at nine hundred metres. Below the peaks, the landscape shifts from rocky alpine summits to tiered agricultural terraces fed by melting snow. The road into the town climbs from the coastal plains, passing through dry, scrub-covered hills before hitting the green belt of the valley floor. Winters bring frost to the streets and snow to the high ground above, while summers provide a relief from the intense heat of the nearby Mediterranean littoral. The village stays quiet, largely removed from the movement of the coast.
What to eat and drink
The pantry of the Alpujarra centers on the mountain climate. Jamón de Trevélez, salt-cured ham from the high-altitude air, appears on every table. Potaje de hinojos, a thick stew of wild fennel, chickpeas, and pork belly, provides the sustenance common to these mountain villages. Foraged mushrooms often fill the kitchen pots in autumn. The local grapes yield a dry white wine, produced from high-altitude vines that struggle in the stony soil. Meals conclude with soplillos, thin almond-based meringues, a legacy of the area's Moorish confectionary traditions.
Andalusia: the whole region
The Spain most first-time visitors are picturing: the Alhambra, orange trees, sherry, and a coastline that runs from windsurfing water to resort sprawl. It is also the region people most often ruin by underestimating it. Seville and…
Minimum 5 days · better 8–10 days · deep 2 weeks
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In Andalusia
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