Andalucia Magazine - 2020

Welcome to the Andalucia Highlights 2020!

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 at this time. We list all the most important ferias and traditional events from every part of Andalucia, whether in the smallest hamlets or major cities – Carnival, Spring Fairs, romerias (pilgrimages), music festivals.

Welcome to the Andalucia.com magazine about Southern Spain!



Carnivals

Spain is a country with a well known Catholic tradition. The carnival is, therefore, celebrated before the 40 days of Lent as a way to let loose before the prohibitions of the upcoming religious holidays. Most Andalucian towns stage a parade, and a dance and a "Carnival Queen" and other singing contests.


Andalucia's top attractions

In Andalucia many monuments are important historical, architectural and cultural landmarks. Here is our list of Andalucia top 40 attractions, how many have you visited?

Antequera Dolmens

Just outside Antequera you can visit three 5000-year-old dolmens: Menga Dolmen (the largest in Europe) and Viera Dolmen, which are both located just outside the town, while El Romeral Dolmen is a few km away. These three prehistoric burial chambers represent some of the largest and most complete megalithic structures in Europe.

Jardines de la Concepción

Just outside Malaga, "La Concepción Jardín Botánico-Historico de Málaga." is a magnificent botanical garden. There are regular guided tours of the gardens which pass through exotic trees and plants, Roman sculptures and a waterfall. There is also a beautiful mansion that once belonged to the creators of the gardens, the Marquis of Casa Loring and his wife, and several panoramic view points to enjoy.

Cable Car Benalmadena

The Telecabina takes you on an amazing 15-minute journey in a four-person cable car right up to the highest point on the Málaga coast at an altitude of almost 800m above sea level. From this superb vantage point, you not only have the most magnificent views of the Costa del Sol, but also the awesome panoramic vistas of the Sierra Nevada mountains (white with snow in the winter months), the Guadalhorce Valley and on a clear day you can see Gibraltar and the coast of Africa.

Baelo Claudia

Baelo Claudia, near Tarifa, is one of Andalucia´s most significant and well-preserved Roman archeological sites. The extensive ruins are situated on the Costa de la Luz, some 15km north of Tarifa, by the small town of Bolonia and its beautiful beach. The site´s important history rests on the former city having been a strategic point for trade routes between Europe and North Africa.


Ronda to Algeciras - Mr Henderson's Railway

In the 1890's, a railway was built by the Algeciras (Gibraltar) Railway Company Ltd between Algeciras and Ronda and Bobadilla where it connected with the existing Cordoba to Malaga line to give access to Madrid and Europe. Nowadays the train journey from Algeciras or San Roque makes a lovely day trip through stunning scenery and historic sites, with gastronomic surprises en route. As well as the novelty of spotting British Victorian railway memorabilia the route passes the beautiful Genal valley, in a place where there is no road access.



 

interests and tastes

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.

Andalucia Highlights