Welcome to the Andalucia Highlights 2015!
This ezine is dedicated to southern Spain, where visitors and locals enjoy lots of sunshine each year, life is lived outdoors, and fiestas are celebrated merrily with local food and wine, all the year round, in every village, town and city, to celebrate everything from food harvests to religious pilgrimages. Andalucia is one of the most varied regions in Spain, with every type of scenery from wetlands to deserts, mountains to beaches. You can ski and swim in the sea, on the same day – on the mountains of the Sierra Nevada and the beaches of the Costa Tropical in Granada province.
Visit our current issue of Andalucia Magazine, with details of events happening around the region this month. We list all the most important ferias and traditional events from every part of Andalucia, whether in the smallest hamlets or major cities – Carnaval, Spring Fairs, romerias (pilgrimages), music festivals.
Welcome to the Andalucia.com magazine about Southern Spain!
Archivo de Indias
Archivo General de Indias next to Seville Cathedral, 16th-century building houses 80 million pages of documents and maps about the Indies.
Almodovar del Rio
Hilltop village in Cordoba province, situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir is famous for its castle built by the Moors here in 740.
Golf in Andalucia
Andalucia is one of Europe’s foremost golfing destinations, with over 100 courses.
Gold Embroidery
Francisco Carrera Iglesias is a master embroiderer, continuing the five-centuries-old tradition of intricate gold embellishment in his Seville workshop.
Starlite Festival
The Starlite Festival is a month-long music and cultural event held in July/August at the Cantera de Nagüeles, in Marbella.
Virgen del Carmen
The festival of the Virgen del Carmen is celebrated on the 16th July in fishing villages along the coast.
Sightseeing Tours in Seville
Get to know Seville from a different perspective this summer, from rooftop walking tours to hot air balloon rides. See our tours above.
Whale & Dolphin Watching
Mid July - mid September Orcas are most visible in the Straights of Gibraltar as they have come to hunt migrating Tuna.
Mt. Mulhacen - A Guide
A guide to climbing the highest mountain in mainland Spain - Mt. Mulhacen, even in May snow covers the peaks.
El Rocio Pilgrimage
24th May - The El Rocío pilgrimage is the most famous in the region, attracting nearly a million people from across Andalucia and the entire country, and beyond.
The Gazpacho Season
Gazpacho is one Andalucia's trademark dishes and a sign that summer is truly here.
Cordoba Patios Festival
4th - 17th May 2015 Córdoba will burst into bloom when the town decorates itself in flowers!
The Antequera Dolmens
The Antequera Dolmens are some of the largest & most complete megalithic structures in Europe.
Andalucia.com 19th Anniversary
A HUGE thank you to all of our sponsors, readers and the team here at Andalucia.com that have made the site what it is today!
Seville Feria
During 2015 the feria takes place from 21-26 April, be sure not to miss this exciting fair.
Cooking Holidays
You can find many excellent culinary programmes all around Andalucia, particularly on the Costa del Sol and other parts of Andalucia.
Spanish Cultural Essays
Read our selection of Spanish cultural essays on a whole range of different, interesting, topics.
Andoni Luis Aduriz
We spoke to chef and restaurateur Andoni Luis Aduriz, of Mugaritz near San Sebastian, which has two Michelin stars and has been voted fourth-best restaurant in the world.
Car Hire in Andalucia
The major international Car rental companies have offices in most Andalucian cities and at the major airports such as Malaga Airport.
Semana Santa
Holy Week, Semana Santa, in Andalucia is an event that literally transforms towns and cities across this region.
El Caminito del rey
The restored Caminito Del Rey re-opened to public on 28 March 2015. It is free to walk for the first six months.
Shopping Abroad
You are only a click away from having your favorite British brands deliver to Spain.
Flamenco
Flamenco is a passionate and seductive art form, a mysterious and misunderstood culture that has been burning in Andalucía for nearly five hundred years.
Cadiz Carnival
This riotous, raucous, annual ten-day celebration of music and humour is what Cadiz looks forward to all year.
Malaga Airport
Málaga Airport is a world class facility offering a full range of passenger services.
Whatever your interests and tastes – sport, nature, hiking, gastro-tourism, nightlife, cultural tourism, history; a private luxury villa, a boutique hotel, a chic city apartment, or a simple seaside bungalow, a campsite or a yurt – you’ll find what you’re after here in Andalucia. For an extra-special stay – anniversary, birthday, or even wedding, see our Special Hotel Collection, where you’re guaranteed a hotel with charm in superb locations offering outstanding service. Explore the pick of the region in the pages of southern Spain's best online magazine.
There are so many Andalucias: the secluded, out-of-the-way one, where you can rent a house in the middle of nowhere, buy all your food from local growers and producers, and enjoy the solitude and spectacular mountain views with abundant wildlife on your doorstep – try Cazorla National Park, the Alpujarras, or the Picos de Aroche, not far from to Doñana National Park, which is a birder’s paradise. Then there’s the cultural buzz of the region’s cosmopolitan cities, perfect for a weekend break: the latest avant-garde art exhibitions, quirky museums, quirky owner-designer boutiques, contemporary architecture, imaginative tapas bars and glam rooftop terraces: Malaga, Granada, Seville, Cordoba; or the more traditional but no less charming Almeria, Jerez and Cadiz.
And of course, the hundreds of kilometres of pristine beaches: for super-chic resorts with all-night open-air dance clubs and Michelin-starred restaurants, packed with the glamorous, sophisticated, and famous head to the Costa del Sol. Or a more low-key, family option – a quiet cove with a small chiringuito (beach restaurant), where children can splash about safely in the shallows and build sandcastles, cute seaside towns with quirky cafes and hip juice bars – the Costa de Almeria, Costa de la Luz. And there are plenty of nudist beaches too.
If history’s your thing, then Andalucia has prehistoric caves, Moorish castles, fairytale palaces, medieval churches, Roman cities, including a good batch of UNESCO World Heritage sites: Seville, Granada, Cordoba, Ubeda, Baeza. Explore the legacy of important British figures such as writer Gerald Brenan, whose house near Malaga is now a museum and cultural centre.
Nowadays southern Spain offers a huge range of holiday courses where you can learn about everything from photography and painting, to yoga and spiritual healing, to flamenco dancing, to sherry and cooking. A double-bonus – you get to find out more about a passion, while enjoying the wonderful warm weather and hospitality of the Andalucians. Less strenuous, but equally enjoyable (and scenic, too) is golf: there are over 100 courses, with many located on the Costa del Sol.
Talking of sport, many top sporting events take place in Andalucia, such as popular cycling event La Vuelta (the Tour of Spain), in August and September (Andalucian stretch in the first seven stages); and the Moto Grand Prix, which takes place in Jerez every May.
Foodies are well catered for in Andalucia, whose reputation as a gastronomic destination continues to sky-rocket – hardly surprising, with such superb produce on offer, traditionally cultivated and farmed for centuries – jamon iberico, wine, olive oil, fresh seafood and vegetables. Whether it’s tapas, a three-course meal, or a full-blown 18-course tasting menu. A growing number of gastrobars offer fascinating culinary fusions. Craft beer is a new trend. An increasingly popular activity which many visitors to Andalucia are choosing as part of their holiday, is gastrotourism. Many bodegas in the Sherry Triangle have been offering guided tours with tastings for years. Visit a pig farm, and learn how to carve jamon iberico (Huelva); see the olives being picked and oil being produced (Sevilla, Cordoba, Jaen), or watch goats being milked and make cheese (Cadiz, Huelva).
Andalucia Magazine provides you with all the information you need for visiting, and living in, this beautiful and varied region, whether you choose to have a holiday here, retire, or to set up a business and enjoy a whole new life in the sun.
