About Axarquia

Just 10 kms inland from the Costa del Sol, is a region of Andalucia known as Axarquia, given this name by the Moors who lived here for six hundred years. The landscape is rugged, often spectacular. A series of valleys have cut deep courses through the mountains in their rapid descent to the sea. A belt of white villages usually with stunning views of the Mediterranean pepper the southern reaches of the mountains, which rise up to 2,000 ms (7,000 ft), providing a beautiful backdrop. The origen of the paths into the mountains can be ascribed to various activities, notably mining, snow gathering and grazing but the most important tracks are the old trading routes linking the coast and villages of the "solana" (sunny side of the mountain) with Granada and Alhama de Granada, which in previous centuries were followed by mule trains exporting silk products and importing wheat, salt and copper. The empty, remote character of Axarquia was a major contributary factor in the spread of banditry in the 18th and 19th centuries, which was concentrated in the mountainous and little populated area.The clement weather makes walking enjoyable all year, apart from the hot summer months.