Palmeral de Europa

Immediately east of Elche is the Palmeral de Europa, the largest palm grove in Europe. A visit takes about 2 hours; the best time in summer is in the early morning. The plantations, probably established by the Phoenicians but dating in their present extent from Moorish times, are surrounded by walls or hedges. Water for irrigation comes from a reservoir in the Vinalopó valley, 5km/3mi away.

The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera; Spanish palmera) requires very careful culture. The dates (which are inferior in quality to those of the Sahara) are harvested between November and the spring; each tree bears dates (an average of 35kg/77lb) only every other year. From April onwards some of the male palms are bound up so that they become bleached, and the bleached fronds (ramilletes) are then sold all over Spain for Palm Sunday and hung from the balconies of houses.

The palms, usually between 20 and 25m (65 and 80ft) in height but sometimes reaching more than 35m/115ft, stand with ''their feet in water and their heads in the fires of heaven'', as an Arabic saying has it. Under them are planted pomegranate trees, in the shade of which fodder crops and vegetables are grown.