Dehesas de Guadix
As the name indicates, this town was grassland for horse and cattle destined for the Spanish market during the 16th and 17th centuries.
The most fascinating characteristic of the town is that almost 70% of its inhabitants live in cave or hybrid houses where part of the building is within a cave and therefore maintains a constant temperature of 20 degrees.
The municipality also has an ancient village dating back to the Bronze Age known as the Lark of the Watch, the San Bernardino viewpoint and is home to Our Lady of Annunciation Parish Church from early 20th century.
The local craftsmanship centres around the material esparto which is a tough grass found in parts of southern Europe and Northern Africa.
Dehesas de Guadix boasts a great gastronomic variety and is especially known for olive oil which originates from the Montes de Granada.
There are also important typical dishes like los caracoles de la lancha (snails), los guisados con picantillo (spicy casserole), las gachas, los sustentos, los hormigos, las rosquillas, el “rin-ran” y el gazpacho.
Dehesas de Guadix celebrates the honour of San Bernardino de Siena with a religious liturgy on 20 May and a festival in August.
The day of San Isidro is celebrated on 15 May with a typical Andalusian pilgrimage and a very popular carnival which encompasses the essence of this day.
Dehesas de Guadix is situated 109km from the city of Granada from where one can take the A-44 road in the direction of Motril and taking the exit 118 towards Murcia. Once on the A-92, take the exit for Dehesas de Guadix and you will cross Villanueva de las Torres in order to continue along the road GR-NE-13 that will take you to your destination.
