When you go to a country with as much history as Spain, wouldn't it be animated to nothing else but spend your vacation in one of the old houses themselves? Well, it might be and should be, but you have to be rigorous with your choice. A 400-year old house, yes, but not one with 400 year-old plumbing or equally aged bedsprings...
So where are these venerable holiday homes? Where is the history? The reply is the high mountain world of La Alpujarra in the Granada province of Andalucia, southern Spain.
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It can come as some surprise to those who know Spain and its neat, contemporary cityscapes to drive up the (good) mountain road that takes you up the sunny southern flanks of Granada's Sierra Nevada and end up in small whitewashed villages that look as if time passed them by. The fact is that La Alpujarra has always been a traditionally poor area. Had wealth being floating around decades ago, a lot of the houses here would have been torn down and rebuilt anew.
Indeed, there is an element of this going today, although there are precise rules about maintaining architectonic styles, with flat roofs and idiosyncratic chimneys. These go back to the times of the Moors, who took refuge in La Alpujarra after the fall of Granada in 1492. It is no crisis that dwellings bear a remarkable resemblance to their Berber counterparts in the Rif Mountains in Morocco: a sierra occasionally visible from La Alpujarra across the Mediterranean Sea.
The properties that interest us are the old houses which have been thought about saved from ruin and restored, but without jettisoning all things that gives them character and charm. Solid chestnuts beams and rafter-and-slate ceilings are typical, as are thick stone walls that keep the living spaces cool in summer, warm in winter. Open fireplaces or woodburning stoves are the norm in cold months, when snow coats the mountain backdrop, but Andalusian sun beats down strong especially in July and August and a cool interior is a blessing.
In La Alpujarra, there are quite a whole of these in the holiday let market. But let the buyer beware!
Some of these rental houses can be a disappointment. They're plainly too "original": austere, uncomfortable and poorly qualified and furnished. The best certify is to use a recognized holiday rental firm that has done all the legwork for you, sorting the wheat from the chaff and ending up only with the quality properties.
La Alpujarra is a breathtaking holiday destination, with breathtaking hiking, economic meals out, a quiet, traditional atmosphere and delightful accommodation: just be careful. Book direct with owners if you want to save a few bucks and take a chance, or to take a property with a good branch and have that assurance of quality that can safeguard your holiday satisfaction.
traditional Holiday Homes in an Older Spain
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