Andalucía / Andalusia

For many people Andalusia is the Spain of their imagination. It is a land of fascinating contrasts - of snow-capped mountains and massive coastal dunes, of sun scorched plateaux and lush green huertas along the rivers, of palm-groves and heaths covered with rock roses. To all this it adds the monuments of glorious past, culminating in the Mosque in Córdoba with its forest of columns and the gleaming red towers and beautiful patios of the Alhambra in Granada.

The southern part of Adalusia is dominated by the Andalusian Mountains or Cordillera Bética. This range of folded mountains running from the south towards the main Iberian land-mass consists of an inner zone of crystalline schists and an outer zone of Mesozoic and Tertiary sediments, which begins at the limestone rock of Gibraltar and extends north to the Jaén uplands. Later tectonic disturbances have produced collapse basins such as the fertile vega of Granada and formed a sheer scarp to the Mediterranean. Although the range includes Spain's highest peak, Mulhacén, it consists mainly of rounded hills of medium height. The higher altitudes, with large areas of scree are covered with steppe vegetation, grazing suitable only for goats and macchia-like scrub. At lower levels are forests of cork-oaks and chestnuts. The region is thinly populated, and the high valley of the Alpujarras has afforded refuge to a population which still show strong Moorish traits. Very different is the more densely populated coastal strip to the south, which is subject to the influence of the moist sea winds and has become a Mecca of international tourism. This is a region of fruit orchards, plantations or sugar-cane, bananas and cotton fields laid out on terraces. Málaga has considerable industry and its port handles a large export trade. Algeciras and Cádiz are also busy industrial towns.