Andalucía often acts as a synonym for Spain as a whole: a sun-dappled, fiesta-loving land of guitar-wielding troubadours, reckless bullfighters, feisty operatic heroines and roguish Roma singers wailing sad laments. While this simplistic portrait might be outdated and overly romantic, it carries an element of truth. Andalucía, despite creeping modernisation, remains a spirited and passionate place where the atmosphere – rather like a good flamenco performance – creeps up and taps you on the shoulder when you least expect it.
A Cultural MarinadePart of the fascination Andalucía holds for people springs from its peculiar history. For eight centuries the region sat on a porous frontier between two different faiths and ideologies, Christianity and Islam. Left to ferment like a barrel of the bone-dry local sherry, the ongoing cross-fertilisation has thrown up a slew of cultural colossi: ancient mosques transformed into churches; vast palace complexes replete with stucco; a cuisine infused with dashes of North African spices; and a chain of lofty white towns that dominates the arid, craggy landscape, from the tightly knotted lanes of Granada's Albayzín to the hilltop settlements of Cádiz province.
DuendeOne of Andalucía's most intriguing and mysterious attractions is the notion of duende, the elusive spirit that douses much of Spanish art, especially flamenco. Duende loosely translates as a moment of heightened emotion experienced during an artistic performance, and it can be soulfully evoked in Andalucía if you mingle in the right places. Seek it out in a Lorca play at a municipal theatre, an organ recital in a Gothic church, the hit-or-miss spontaneity of a flamenco peña (club) or the remarkable art renaissance currently gripping Malaga.
A Cultural MarinadePart of the fascination Andalucía holds for people springs from its peculiar history. For eight centuries the region sat on a porous frontier between two different faiths and ideologies, Christianity and Islam. Left to ferment like a barrel of the bone-dry local sherry, the ongoing cross-fertilisation has thrown up a slew of cultural colossi: ancient mosques transformed into churches; vast palace complexes replete with stucco; a cuisine infused with dashes of North African spices; and a chain of lofty white towns that dominates the arid, craggy landscape, from the tightly knotted lanes of Granada's Albayzín to the hilltop settlements of Cádiz province.
DuendeOne of Andalucía's most intriguing and mysterious attractions is the notion of duende, the elusive spirit that douses much of Spanish art, especially flamenco. Duende loosely translates as a moment of heightened emotion experienced during an artistic performance, and it can be soulfully evoked in Andalucía if you mingle in the right places. Seek it out in a Lorca play at a municipal theatre, an organ recital in a Gothic church, the hit-or-miss spontaneity of a flamenco peña (club) or the remarkable art renaissance currently gripping Malaga.
Some cities have looks, other cities have personality. The sevillanos get both, courtesy of their flamboyant, charismatic, ever-evolving Andalucian metropolis founded, according to myth, 3000 years ago by the Greek god Hercules. Drenched for most of the year in spirit-enriching sunlight, this is a city of feelings as much as sights, with different seasons prompting. Seville is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir. The inhabitants of the city are known as sevillanos (feminine form: sevillanas) or hispalenses, after the Roman name of the city, Hispalis. Seville has a municipal population of about 703,000 as of 2011, and a metropolitan population of about 1.5 million, making it the fourth-largest city in Spain and the 30th most populous municipality in the European Union. Its Old Town, the third largest in Europe with an area of 4 square kilometres (2 sq mi), contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the Alcázar palace complex, the Cathedral and the General Archive of the Indies. The Seville harbour, located about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the Atlantic Ocean, is the only river port in Spain. Seville is also the hottest major metropolitan area in the geographical Western Europe, with summer average high temperatures of above 35 °C.
In my opinion, Frigiliana is the most beautiful small town or village in Andalucia in the province of Málaga. The municipality is situated approximately 71 kilometers east of Málaga, the provincial capital, and approximately 6 kilometers north of Nerja. It is located in the comarca of La Axarquía, the easternmost region of the province, and integrated into the judicial district of Torrox.
This is the old district inhabited by the Moors before and after the Reconquista. Its name Mudéjar is used to describe the architectural style used by Arab craftsmen working in Christian territory. The quarter is made up of steep cobbled alleyways winding past white houses resplendent with flowers. For four days at the end of August each year, Frigiliana hosts the Festival of the Three Cultures (Festival de las Tres Culturas), celebrating the region's historic confluence and co-existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions. Frigliana is referenced in the famous Irish song, 'Lisdoonvarna' by Christy Moore. "Summer comes around each year, We go there and they come here. Some jet off to … Frijiliana, But I always go to Lisdoonvarna."
This is the old district inhabited by the Moors before and after the Reconquista. Its name Mudéjar is used to describe the architectural style used by Arab craftsmen working in Christian territory. The quarter is made up of steep cobbled alleyways winding past white houses resplendent with flowers. For four days at the end of August each year, Frigiliana hosts the Festival of the Three Cultures (Festival de las Tres Culturas), celebrating the region's historic confluence and co-existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions. Frigliana is referenced in the famous Irish song, 'Lisdoonvarna' by Christy Moore. "Summer comes around each year, We go there and they come here. Some jet off to … Frijiliana, But I always go to Lisdoonvarna."
Mijas Pueblo is an other beatiful village in Andalucia - my favourite destination as well. The story of Mijas encapsulates the story of the Costa del Sol. Originally a humble village, it is now the richest town in the province. Since finding favour with discerning bohemian artists and writers in the 1950s and '60s, Mijas has sprawled across the surrounding hills and down to the coast, yet managed to retain the picturesque charm of the original pueblo (village).
Mijas has a foreign population of at least 40% and the municipality includes Mijas Costa and La Cala de Mijas, both located on the coast southwest of Fuengirola. Mijas Pueblo is the historical core of the municipality of Mijas, situated in the heart of the Costa del Sol in southwestern Spain. It lies only 30 kilometres from Málaga Airport. It has a varied landscape that goes from the mountains all the way to the sea.
The area of Mijas is mostly mountainous with growing developments along the coast and on the gentler parts of the mountain slopes. The Pasadas and Ojen rivers cross this area, they join to form the Rio Fuengirola which flows into the sea almost on the limits between Fuengirola and Mijas.
The Municipality, one of the largest in the Province of Málaga, with 147 km² is divided into three different urban areas: Mijas Pueblo, conserving the charm of a traditional Andalucian "white village", Las Lagunas on the coast (the most modern area of Mijas where you can find industrial and commercial areas), and La Cala, a small seaside village in the centre of the 12 kilometres of beaches on the Mijas coast.
Inhabited since ancient times, a small village Mijas was devoted mainly to agriculture and fisheries to the explosion of the tourist boom in the 50s of last century. Since then, tourism and construction sector have been the engines of local economy, triggering at the same time the population and per capita income, albeit at a high environmental cost. Today it is a multicultural city with a high percentage of residents of foreign origin and a major residential centers of tourism in Andalusia.
The Climate of Mijas, due to the proximity of the sea, conditions mild temperatures, with an average of 18 °C without heat in summer and little frost in winter. The rainfall is below 600ml per year. They occur mainly between November and January. The town boasts some 2920 hours of sunshine a year As one ascends the mountains, the climate changes gradually. Temperatures can drop to 10 °C. In the peaks may be some ice in winter, over 600 meters, while precipitation increases to almost 800ml.
Mijas has a foreign population of at least 40% and the municipality includes Mijas Costa and La Cala de Mijas, both located on the coast southwest of Fuengirola. Mijas Pueblo is the historical core of the municipality of Mijas, situated in the heart of the Costa del Sol in southwestern Spain. It lies only 30 kilometres from Málaga Airport. It has a varied landscape that goes from the mountains all the way to the sea.
The area of Mijas is mostly mountainous with growing developments along the coast and on the gentler parts of the mountain slopes. The Pasadas and Ojen rivers cross this area, they join to form the Rio Fuengirola which flows into the sea almost on the limits between Fuengirola and Mijas.
The Municipality, one of the largest in the Province of Málaga, with 147 km² is divided into three different urban areas: Mijas Pueblo, conserving the charm of a traditional Andalucian "white village", Las Lagunas on the coast (the most modern area of Mijas where you can find industrial and commercial areas), and La Cala, a small seaside village in the centre of the 12 kilometres of beaches on the Mijas coast.
Inhabited since ancient times, a small village Mijas was devoted mainly to agriculture and fisheries to the explosion of the tourist boom in the 50s of last century. Since then, tourism and construction sector have been the engines of local economy, triggering at the same time the population and per capita income, albeit at a high environmental cost. Today it is a multicultural city with a high percentage of residents of foreign origin and a major residential centers of tourism in Andalusia.
The Climate of Mijas, due to the proximity of the sea, conditions mild temperatures, with an average of 18 °C without heat in summer and little frost in winter. The rainfall is below 600ml per year. They occur mainly between November and January. The town boasts some 2920 hours of sunshine a year As one ascends the mountains, the climate changes gradually. Temperatures can drop to 10 °C. In the peaks may be some ice in winter, over 600 meters, while precipitation increases to almost 800ml.
My pictures from Andalucia
Some recent pictures from Andalucia (2015 - 2017).