Beautiful valley just south of Granada, Spain
The beautiful Sierra Nevada in the Granada Province is one of the best mountain regions in Spain, if not THE best! Not just for winter pursuits, the Sierra Nevada, which is just a short drive from the Lecrin Valley, is also a great place to visit in the summer, with loads of activities from hiking, cycling, snow melt watching, waterfall jumping and much more! Continue reading “Sierra Nevada – not just for winter!”
Spring has finally arrived this week, just in time for Semana Santa and the Lecrin Valley will be bursting with sunshine, flowers and Easter parades! Continue reading “Spring returns for Semana Santa”
Our beautiful Lecrin Valley is experiencing renewed vigour with a recovering economy and the completed motorway links to Almeria and Malaga, together with new international flight connections to Granada bringing more visitors and more business. Continue reading “A great time to buy and rent in the beautiful Lecrin Valley, Spain”
Not only is Easyjet flying from Gatwick to Granada this year, but the company will also start to fly from Manchester this summer, with twice weekly flights from the end of July. Return flights from Manchester to Granada will operate every Tuesday and Friday from 21 July through to the end of October, then every Monday and Friday from 30 October. Continue reading “Now Easy-er to fly to Granada from Manchester!”
It’s that time of year when we say, come to the Lecrin Valley for an early Spring visit! We’re bang in between the beautiful and very snowy Sierra Nevada and the gorgeous, Costa Tropical! And this year it’s all the more possible with EasyJet starting to fly to Granada Airport (GRX) in February. Continue reading “Ski in Sierra Nevada, sunbathe on the costa and stay in the Lecrin Valley!”
Finally…from February 2017, EasyJet will be operating three return flights a week between London Gatwick and Granada-Jaen! The new service was announced today by the President of Granada provincial council, José Entrena (as reported in Ideal.es). Continue reading “EasyJet announces new Gatwick to Granada route”
The weather may have turned a bit chilly and autumnal in the UK this week, but not so in the Lecrin Valley, where the sunshine persists to provide lovely late summer weather, well into October and beyond. Continue reading “Make the most of the Lecrin Valley’s extended summer!”
Over the next few weeks temperatures in southern Spain will be in the mid thirties, so with schools off for the summer, many Spanish and visiting families are set to escape the heat of the city for the breezes of the valley and the coast…
The Lecrin Valley has the best of all worlds: It nestles in the heart of the countryside with accessibility to the city, the coast and great links to all sorts of places with the newly completed motorways to Malaga and Almeria.
One of the many attractions of this peaceful and beautiful place is that once it gets to July and August, whilst the valley still gets all the sunshine, the local breezes that come off the sierras take away the searing heat that you can get in the city.
So whereas temperatures will reach the mid thirties, you rarely feel uncomfortably hot or experience the sleepless nights you can get elsewhere, making the Lecrin Valley the perfect place to relax; enjoy the local fiestas, bars and restaurants; the beautiful countryside and scenery; walks, riding, cycling and fishing or simply kick back in a shady spot and snooze your cares away!
PHOTO CREDIT: Danielle Gouwens@At Home in Andalusia.
This time of year has to be the best time in the Lecrin Valley… the spring flowers are all out, the birds are singing, the weather is beautifully warm and sunny and the smell of citrus blossom, or “azahar” is everywhere.
While the majority of this uplifting, sweet and pungent aroma is orange blossom, el Azahar officially includes all white citrus blossom, so the amazing aroma around the Lecrin Valley is made up of all the different types of oranges grown in the area, together with lemon, lime, tangerine and even some grapefruit found in local gardens.
Easily one of nature’s most amazing natural perfumes, it’s no wonder that perfumers all around the world try to capture this scent in their fragrances.
Que armoniosa belleza
tiene la flor de azahar
es blanca como las nubes
que en el cielo veo pasear.
Su aroma fuerte intenso
que el viento esparce al pasar
que enamora a las aves
cuando su néctar van a probar.
Hermosa tu que floreces
en un día primaveral
que invades con tu fragancia
de pureza sin igual.
En las ramas del naranjo
y también del limonar
estas pegada esperando
ser frutos para degustar.
Lee todo en: Poema PERFUME DE AZAHAR, de MYRIAM ESTRELLA B, en Poemas del Alma http://www.poemas-del-alma.com/blog/mostrar-poema-369149#ixzz45hn8SoHp
February is always a busy time of the year in the valley with the winter citrus harvest. Already 50-60% of the harvest gathered, the cooperativa (the Lecrin Valley’s local farmers’ cooperative) at Melegis is working full pelt with truck loads of local Lecrin Valley oranges being weighed and boxed up every day. Most will be exported overseas for marmalade production.
However on an Andalusian scale and for Spain and northern Africa in general, the harvest is predicted to be down around 25% this year, due to the lack of rain and high temperatures last year. However that has been reported from Cordoba where they have much more extremes than we do in the valley, so hoping the Lecrin Valley harvest is a good one.
The less plentiful harvest means that prices will be driven up… and while some producers will benefit, sadly the local growers won’t, because most of them are tied in to low price contracts with the local ayuntamientos…
If you’re out and about in the Lecrin Valley, don’t think that you can just pick an orange off a tree and eat it. Oranges are not all made equal! Most of the oranges that are grown and harvested at this time of year are naranjas amargas or bitter oranges.
These oranges are great for making marmalade, because they have higher pectin content than sweet oranges, but they’re not for eating whole or putting in salads!
Bitter oranges can be used for making juices, but you’ll need to add sugar. If you’re in shops and supermarkets they’re are generally labeled “zumo” oranges and are the ones you’ll most likely find being sold outside people’s houses and by the roadside.
You can juice these and add sweeter fruit like bananas, mangoes or peaches to make smoothies. The flowers of the bitter orange tree are used for aromatherapy and these days often used in diet products as they’re believed to help weight loss.
If you want to eat fresh oranges in slices, in salads or in other food, look for “naranjas de mesa” or “table oranges”. These are most likely Navel (so-called because of their “tummy button”) or other varieties of sweet oranges.
Andalucia is the second biggest orange producing region (after Valencia) and produces over a million tons of oranges each year.
It’s important to support local growers where we can, so try to buy local and check the labels of oranges in your supermarket.