SURROUNDINGS

The Alpujarra (or Las Alpujarras) is an Andalucian region in the South of Spain. It includes part of the province of Granada and part of the province of Almeria, on the southern slope of the natural park of Sierra Nevada. In ancient texts the region is sometimes called Alpujarras, a name derived from the Arabic term “al Busherat” (al-bugscharra), which could be translated as “the Land of Grass” or “Pastureland”. Sirgo Land and Silk Land.

The region consists mainly of a series of valleys that descend at a right angle from the peaks of Sierra Nevada in the North to Sierra de la Contraviesa and Sierra de Gádor separated by the Mediterranean Sea to the South. The region is of enormous natural beauty.

The physical environment of La Alpujarra, Sierra Nevada, has been declared a Biosphere Reserve by Unesco, Natural Park & National Park, specially for its botanical endemism and its particular ecoculture. The stepped shape of the land makes houses in villages seem to be stacked on top of each other and their characteristic flat roofs, fireplaces and balconies (“tinaos”) that extend through the narrow stepped streets, giving it a picturesque and unique appearance.

The climate of the Alpujarra is varied and diverse, it varies depending on where it is, the hight and the area, if it is the Alta or the Baja Alpujarra…whether it is Summer or Winter the weather will vary and the weather will depend on where you are.

At higher altitudes, such as Trevélez, winters are usually very cold, with temperatures falling at night to 0 degrees whilst summers are usually warm with mild temperatures. In the lower Alpujarra, in the Almeria area, or in the one closest to the Costa Tropical, the climate is usually more mediterranean.