The village of Dúrcal is situated in the valley of the Dúrcal River, on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada, in the fertile Lecrín Valley. Throughout the Moorish period, the land in and around Dúrcal was used for growing sugar, as well as oranges and lemons, and these orchards still remain to this day. The largest cable car railway in Europe was once located here, but it was dismantled at the end of the 1950s. The Puente de Lata iron bridge remains. It was built by a disciple of Gustave Eiffel. The town has a population of around 7,000.