lanjarón
Around 50 km from Granada city and the first town you come to in the Western Alpujarras, Lanjarón is considered the gateway to the region. It is famous for its mineral water which is sold throughout Spain, while its spa waters have been celebrated for centuries for their curative properties and are considered to be some of the best in the country.
Try them for yourself at the town′s Balneario where you can indulge in a whole range of treatments. While the Balneario is open (March to December), the town is full of mainly elderly visitors who come from all over Spain to take the waters.
The area produces some excellent wines and cavas of dry and sweet varieties, attracting wine enthusiasts from all over. Honey is also locally made and sold in many villages of the Alpujarras. Being part of Granada province, complimentary tapas will arrive with every drink ordered in bars so do not be surprised when you get more than you asked for!
Like other forms of accommodation in Lanjarón, and generally the Granada province, apartment rentals are generally reasonably priced and set in a beautiful surrounding. None of the featured… More →
Overlooking the town is a rocky outcrop capped by a ruined Moorish castle. Legend has it that the Moorish ruler of Lanjarón threw himself from the castle tower, rather than surrender, when he realised that the Christian army, led by the Catholic King Fernando, was going to be victorious.
Stretched out along the A348, the main street of Avenida de la Alpujarra (which is also known as the Avenida de Andalucia), are many places to stay and bars and restaurants, as well as a tourist information office.
Tablate
To the west of Lanajaron (and actually in the municipality of >El Pinar) lies the abandoned village of Tablate, with its deserted church, Iglesia de Santiago, and the steep Tablate ravine, considered the gateway to the Alpujarras.
Puente de Tablate
A bridge of Arab origin, built over the Tablate gorge, on the royal road that linked Almería to Granada via the southern route around the Sierra Nevada. The arab bridge's single arch is constructed from red brick with remnants of stone on the outer edges and parapets. It span is only 19m but is nearly one hundred meteres above the river. Elements from five different periods can be distinguished in the masonry, ranging from the Nasrid period (1238-1492) found at the base of the abutments, to 1796. The bridge was distroyed by the Moors in the 1499 Moorish Rebelion and ordered to be rebuilt by the Catholic Monarch in 1502 and financed by a per person and per beast toll. The distruction was repeated in the 1569 Moorish rebellion and this time the definitive reconstruction was not completed utill 1719. A 'new' semicircular stone arch bridge was constructed in 1867 to provide for travellers up and down to the coast complete with its own little hermatage. This bridge was in turn replaced by a modern 1990 steel truss for the A-348 directly above the arab bridge which by this time had fallen into such disrepair it was not safe to even walk accross it. A complicated restoration has since been carried out. To walk over the arab bridge park you car on the N323a and walk down to it.
The A-44 motorway from Granada to Motril also crosses the Tablate ravine to the south on two large twin viaducts completed in 1995 and 2002 making a total of five bridges.