Spain Trip May 2025 - Part 12 Granada and the Alhambra

Large parts of Spain were ruled by Muslims from the 8th to the 15th centuries and they have left a legacy of Moorish architecture throughout much of the country. The last Muslim state was the Emirate of Granada, also known as the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. The Alhambra is a palace and fort complex on a hill overlooking the modern city of Granada, and where the rulers lived. 

We booked tickets in advance to visit, as the Alhambra is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Spain's most visited historic monument and fourth most visited tourist attraction. Thankfully there is lots of parking, including for mohos, so we were able to drive from our campsite to it. But first, we wanted to visit the city of Granada, and luckily there is a regular shuttle bus that runs from outside the ticket office at the Alhambra to the centre of the city.

We didn't set off very early as our tickets to visit the Nasrid Palaces were for the last slot of the day, which was at 7pm! This is the one part of the Alhambra complex where you need to book an actual time, the rest you are free to visit at any time during your one day ticket.

I don't know what all the buildings are that I took photos of, as we just wandered around wherever, then had lunch. Granada is lovely, and I'm sure there is tons to see and we only saw a very small amount.

I think this is the cathedral, as the bus dropped us nearby, at Plaza Isabel la Catolica  (statue of Isabel above). It was not built until the C16th, after the Nasrid rulers had left.

We found ourselves down a mass of tiny alleyways full of tourist shops - a nice shady place for a hot day - for us it was a warm day but thankfully not too hot!

An example of Moorish architecture in the city but I don't know what it is.

We came around to the cathedral again and went in to have a look.

After lunch we headed back to the Alhambra. You can see part of the complex behind me. We first visited an area known as the Generalife, which was a summer palace and country estate for the Nasrid rulers, and constructed most probably at the end of the 13th century, or the beginning of the 14th century.

There were lots of lovely gardens here, and wandering around, although it had warmed up quite a lot, there are trees and shade so was never too hot. Water and fountains always help in making you feel cooler anyway.

Inside one of the buildings.

Views of the buildings and views from the buildings.

We then went back to the main complex though I don't know what this building is.

The oldest building at the Alhambra is the alcazaba, or fortress. It was built by Mohammed I Ibn al-Ahmar, the founder of the Nasrid dynasty, after 1238, and stands on the site of another fortress built by another kingdom in the C11th.

There isn't a huge amount to see here although you can climb up some of the towers but I wanted to conserve my leg strength for the rest of the day and neither of the guys were interested either! There are some excavations within the site as there was a small residential district, storerooms, a bathhouse and more but you can't access it all, and it was not labelled up as far as I recall. 

Below are more views of the alcazaba and a view of the snow capped Sierra Nevada. It's always best to click on the collages to view larger and you will see the nice cracks in the wall below! 

The building bottom right however, is the patio at the centre of the Palace of Charles V.

Yes, there are some more palaces here built after the end of the Nasrid dynasty and dedicated to the Spanish catholic rulers. This palace began construction in 1527 but due to various reasons it was still only partially finished a hundred years later and was abandoned in 1637, still without a roof. The building deteriorated over the centuries and was only completed after 1923 when restoration began, with its roof finally going on in 1967!

It houses the museum which was interesting with some fabulous pieces such as this folding leather and wood chair from c. 1380 and used as the throne from the time of Mohammed V.

Examples of tile work and a carved wooden wall/partition with a door above.

Some exquisite inlay work.

After this it was time for our visit to the Nasrid Palaces which I will continue in another post as I have many more photos!

Spain Trip May 2025 - Part 11 Sierra Nevada and Las Alpujarras, Andalucia

Our next destination was Granada and the Alhambra Palace, somewhere that we missed seeing last time we were in Spain due to the pouring rain which we drove north to avoid. It's best to book in advance for the Alhambra, although if you are lucky you can buy a ticket at the entrance on the day. However, there is a specific palace which you have to book separately for (and get given an actual time slot for), and this turns out to be booked weeks beforehand! We could only get a ticket for the very last day before we had to start heading home, and even so, we got the very last time slot of the day which was I think 8pm (the Palace closes at 9pm). So I rejigged our itinerary and we spent the next two days visiting the Sierra Nevada mountains and the Alpujarras range, before heading to Granada.

The Sierra Nevada is the tallest mountain range in Spain and some of its peaks are higher than those in the Pyrenees. The highest peak is Mulhacén at 3,479m. All around the Granada area you get a stunning view of the mountains, which are still snow capped in May.

We drove up to a dull looking ski town called Pradallano and parked up, with a view of Veleta peak (3,396m, on the left in the photo below). I had read that there was a shuttle bus which takes you up to a scenic viewpoint and a place that serious hikers go off up to Pico de Veleta from. We ate lunch in the van with a view of the road but quelle surprise, no buses went past. It was clouding over anyway and pretty chilly up there at 2,100m altitude, so it wasn't that much of a big deal.

A little way further down we stopped where the first flowers were blooming as I wanted to see what they were (yes I know these are sheep!😀).

The white flower is a Helianthemum - a Rock Rose but I don't know which one as there are many white ones like this, and PlantNet wasn't sure. The blue flower is Erinacea anthyllis, commonly called Blue Broom. I have never seen a blue flowered broom before - it looked gorgeous in the blue clumps interspersed with the white rock roses. In the bottom picture there is a white broom growing next to the blue one - the only only I saw this colour.

The next day we explored the Alpujarras ranges. This is on the southern, coastal side of the Sierra Nevada and is an area of rolling hills and gorges, a green and fertile area due to being watered by the snow melt. Further east the area becomes more arid. There are a number of 'white villages' here which are popular with second home owners and foreign buyers. The villages that we visited were very pleasant and not at all overly touristy. 

The village of Pampaneira has a textile industry making 'jarapas', thick, colourful fabrics that are used as blankets, rugs and bedspreads made on hand looms, some of which are several hundred years old.

I was quite tempted by the rugs but they would have taken up too much space in our Moho garage, but we did buy a woven fly screen, one of those old fashioned ones which have long cords hanging that you put in a doorway.

The church, Inglesia de la Santa Cruz, which was built in the C18th was very surprisingly plain on the outside. However the rest of the village made up for it, with plants galore and gorgeous architecture.

These chimney pots are unusual and most houses have flat or almost flat roofs, with chimneys like this. I loved the way this flat roof had been decorated.

We didn't notice it when we were walking around but there is an old public laundry area inside the brick arched building where the town ladies would have brought their clothes to wash by hand.

A lady working at a hand loom.

We then drove higher up the valley to the last village, Capileira, where, believe it or not, there is an Indian restaurant! El Jardín de los Sabores has in fact two chefs, one who cooks the Indian food and the other who cooks local cuisine. You can guess which we opted for! 

The setting in this lush and verdant garden was just divine, with views to die for and very good food. Whilst waiting, I was kept amused by this lovely dog who took a shine to me and wanted me to throw his stick to him (constantly!). He belonged to one of the waiters.

Back near our campsite this cactus was blooming. This is Austrocylindropuntia subulata, native to the Peruvian Andes, but an introduced invasive species in the Spanish coastal provinces. Can't say that I noticed this plant anywhere else though.

I didn't know what this was at the time of taking the photo, but it turns out to be a Pomegranate (Punica granatum)! Pomegranates are another introduced species in Spain, which I have seen both growing wild and also in cultivation.

I've now got to go through several hundred photos from Granada and the Alhambra and whittle them down to a couple of blog posts!! Expect lots of collages. 😁

Spain Trip May 2025 - Part 10 El Torcal, Andalucia

El Torcal is a nature reserve in a small mountain range near Antequera with amazing karst limestone rock formations.

We were not able to drive all the way up to the visitor centre but there was a shuttle bus which took us from the main car park further down the road, and we didn't have to wait very long. In the park there are several loop walks you can take of different lengths.

The map below shows the last few places that we visited up to El Torcal, with Gibraltar showing on the map bottom left.

Wherever you are the scenery is just amazing.

I saw a number of these huge plants on the way up in the bus and I have found out that it is called the Villous Deadly Carrot (Thapsia villosa). Villous means shaggy apparently.

A Rock Bunting (Emberiza cia). If you remember, we saw our first ever one earlier in the trip in the Monfrague National Park. So this bird and the Booted Eagle were the two lifers that we saw this trip.

Faces in Things time! Can you see any? In the middle, I see a man sideways on wearing a long horsehair wig (think Georgian times) and in front of him (on the left) is a dog's face, also sideways on. Maybe you will see something completely different!

Snapdragons and other plants growing out of the rock high overhead.

A relatively short post this time as I couldn't add it to the following destination or the post would have been too long. 

I will try to post more frequently now as I have the rest of this trip plus our Italian trip still to post about - and only three and a half months before we set off on our travels again!

Guess what, we just watched Travel Man with Joe Lycett last night which was filmed in Malaga. And where did they go? To that raised walkway in the gorge that I mentioned in my last post! Still glad we didn't do it, and K has said that having seen the photo I linked to, he wouldn't have gone on it either! 😀