Alcaucin History

The territory of Alcaucín, in the northern part of La Axarquía on the border of the province of Granada, stretches between the imposing Sierra de Tejeda, the rugged Boquete de Zafarraya –a natural gap between the coast and the interior- and the Periana corridor, where the topography tends to be gentler. Its municipal boundaries, therefore, contain exceptionally varied and surprising geographic features, giving it a spectacular wealth of scenery.

Algarrobo History

This small municipality, whose area is less than 10 square kilometres, extends over a territory where the mountains of La Axarquía begin to soften their edges before forming their coastal profile. It is crossed from north to south by the River Algarrobo-Sayalonga, which flows through a valley whose landscape was once covered by olive and almond trees and vineyards but is now undergoing substantial changes due to the cultivation of subtropical products and vegetables, so the gentle slopes are being taken over by the terraces needed by these new plantations.The urban nucleus of Algarrobo, of Moorish outline, is three kilometres from the coast. In order to distinguish the beach zone, which is undergoing large-scale development, from the village proper the convention has been adopted of calling it Algarrobo-Costa, something that is not unique to this locality since it is a relatively newly coined expression used in other municipalities in Málaga.Historical evidence exists that there were human settlements in the municipal territory of Algarrobo since the Bronze Age, in the form of discoveries in the area of El Morro de Mezquitilla. The most important archaeological legacy ever found in Algarrobo, though, is the Phoenician necropolis of Trayamar (seventh century B. C.). The Romans also left their stamp here but the later Visigoths apparently could derive no benefit from these lands, although the Arabs were able to, during their long stay.

Archez History

The small area of the municipality of Archez –only 5 square kilometres- confers an almost domestic character upon this territory that is reaffirmed by the landscape itself, which except for the nearby Tejeda and Almijara mountain ranges seems to shun the spectacular geographic features that are the norm in La Axarquía. The valley of the river that bears this municipality’s name and that later takes the name Algarrobo forms a landscape of level-topped heights with no great contrasts of elevation. Some hills near the river change into terraces that permit the cultivation of fruit and vegetables, in contrast to the classic native low brush, in this case- of all this territory.

The unmistakable La Azarquía landscape, permanently watched over by the Tejeda and Almijara mountain mass, frames the municipality of Arenas. Its village centre, of clear Moorish origin, lies between the Cerro Alto peak and that of Bentomiz, both of which are about 700 metres above sea level. With the exception of these two high grounds, the terrain is composed of a succession of gentle hills abounding with almond and olive trees and grapevines, crops that occasionally yield to leafy pine groves that sprinkle the landscape with an intense green.

The traveller’s first impression as he approaches this village is that he is entering an enormous, well-planned and well-tended orchard where the citrus trees-oranges and lemons-join their perennial greenery to that of the subtropical fruits that have been more recently introduced in the region. The terraces of these crops climb to the nearest hills, which are devoid of vegetation on their highest levels.