To Granada and the Sierra Nevada

We have experienced many of the great monuments of Spain and so the Alhambra at Granada, being the last we planned to visit, had something to live up to. Our plans were put into disarray once we learnt that tickets were sold out for the Thursday on which we planned to visit and that no tickets would be available until the following Sunday. This meant we would need to stay near Granada for a couple of days and we did consider giving it a miss this trip but are very glad we made it.

We drove the coast road from Tarifa, past Gibraltar and along the Med. The Costa del Sol is well known to British holidaymakers but was new to us and after the Costa de la Luz takes on a very different feel. The development here means that the strip of land between sea and mountains is packed solid with villas and apartment blocks and all the advertising boards were in English and we were able to pick up an Englsih language radio station where you could use Wayne for your plumbing and Sharon for her mobile hairdressing.

Once past Malaga we discovered an area known locally as the Costa Tropical where market gardens replaced the concrete jungle and stayed a couple of nights near Torre del Mar next to a sand and shingle beach. On Friday we headed north from the coast on a new motorway that took us to Granada through the mountains. First, the Alpujarras, then the Sierra Nevada gave us spectacular views before we reached the plateau in which Granada is set. As we walked from the camp site at Suspiro del Moro, a few miles outside of the city, we reached the top of a small hill and looked down across a pink city (the colour of the local stone) set in a plain surrounded by high mountains.

On Saturday we took a road tour to the north and went to Gaudix through the Sierra Huétar, a small town set in a fantastic landscape of unusual rock formations. These provided many caves which over the centuries have been made into homes, once primitive in nature now including all mod cons. The red rock and soil provide a foil for the white towns and villages that are set here north of the Sierra Nevada where the high, snow covered mountains were always looming in the background. Scattered amongst the peaks are limestone ridges and it is little surprise that this is a popular walking area.