Articulo

During the last decade of last century, the segment of tourism to nature areas opened up in Andalusia, inland Andalusia is a unique offer within Spain and among the best in Europe. Tourism here has been traditionally linked to the sun and beach segment; cultural tourism to the monumental cities and golf has led the way for sport tourism. The number of beds on offer for rural tourism is around twenty thousand, with the provinces of Jaén and Granada at the top of the list with most accommodation in this segment.

Few Spanish areas or European regions can offer more attractions to strengthen this kind of holiday that is increasing in a significant way every year. Traditions, culture, history, landscapes, climate, price/quality relationship, gastronomy and a wide network of rural establishments are attractions enough for this segment of Andalusian tourism to enjoy great prestige.

You also have to take into account, that the average number of sunny days in Andalusia is 300 a year and that the inland tourism offer is closely linked with the nature parks, areas and reserves, with 21% of the territory of Andalucía protected as a nature reserve.

Old mines, mining communities, old disused train lines made into green paths, old homesteads made into hotels, like flour mills and old olive oil mills, putting visitors in touch with the past but adapting the installations to present-day requirements.

Most of the inland tourism offer is around areas that have a strong, marked personality, far from the large towns where nature forms an essential part of the people. This is why the greatest part of the existing inland accommodation in Andalusia is centred around the nature parks.

In the province of Jaén there are several routes and districts where this type of tourism is centred, from the Nature Park of Cazorla, Segura y Las Villas to the Sierra Mágina. In Granada the largest part of inland tourism focuses on the National Park of Sierra Nevada with a quality offer in the villages of the Alpujarra; the Lecrín valley also offers nature lovers a complete holiday offer.

The mountains of the province of Huelva, around Aracena, Cortegana, Hinojales, Fuente Heridos, Aroche and Alájar are unique, like the Sierra Morena in Córdoba and the Sierra Norte in Seville. In the dry lands of Almería, in Los Vélez, Sierra María and Gádor district, as well as de Alhamilla, there are places to stay that will amaze visitors.

The more humid mountains of Andalusia are equally attractive, areas around Los Alcornocales, Grazalema, Castellar de la Frontera and la Almoráima in the province of Cádiz. Also the white villages in the mountains of Cádiz invite you to know an area strongly fixed in the Andalusian traditions and culture like in the Serranía de Ronda (Málaga) and the valley of the Genal river have a very attractive offer of accommodation in old mills, where you can enjoy the ancestral culture of the area and its own particular and rich gastronomy.

There are mountain districts in the province of Málaga with great historic weight, this is the case of the Axarquía in Málaga. Its Moorish past, with touches of Mudejar in the church towers, is in every corner of the whitewashed villages of the Axarquía, where hearty dishes help to regain your strength if you climb the Maroma peak or through the mountain pass of the Boquete de Zafarraya, opening up to the rolling plains of Alhama de Granada, you will find the roads worn by the steps of Romans, Moors, highwaymen and bandoleers who stayed at the Venta de Alfarnate inn and at the Vizco tavern in El Borge.

Digital Magazine Ecotourism04 four digital kiosks

Staff

STAFF
Edited by Concha Manjón/Entropía Ediciones
Published by Salvador Hernáez
Textes Comunicación y Turismo, S.L. / Handbook of tourism in Andalucía. Consejería de Turismo y Comercio de la Junta de Andalucía
Design Alberto Álvarez de Perea
Community Manager Alberto Álvarez de Perea
International José Antonio Sierra
Commercial department
Concha Manjón / Estrella Torres
Webmaster obolo.com
Translation Isabelle Thévenet
Cover photo
Castellar de la Frontera (Cádiz)
© Lorenzo Martín Iglesias

Digital Magazine Ecotourism04. Inland Andalusia

Staff