DK Travel : Andalucía and Costa del Sol

The diverse and politically semi-autonomous region of Andalucía has a population of some 7 million and embodies what is thought of as typically Spanish – an accurate portrait of the place and its people must include the bullfight, flamenco, gypsies, remote white villages, high sierras and mass tourism on endless stretches of beach. The memories you take with you after a visit here will be colourful, joyous, intense and deeply stirring.

Casino Torrequebrada, Benalmádena Costa

Located in the Hotel Torrequebrada, the casino has tables for blackjack, chemin de fer, punto y banco and roulette. The nightclub offers a flamenco show. Smart dress.
Cast of Characters

The fight (corrida ) begins with a procession of all the bullfighters.
Castillo de Almodóvar del Río

Originally the site of a Roman fortification, the present fairytale castle goes back to the 14th century, when it was embellished in Gothic style. Before that, it had been a Moorish structure dating from AD 740 that had survived four centuries of Christian sieges. Magnificent views from the battlements take in the whitewashed town below. Legend holds that ghosts of those who died while imprisoned here haunt the eight monolithic towers.
Castillo de Burgalimar, Baños de la Encina

This Moorish castle is one of the best preserved in Andalucía. Its horseshoe-arched main gate bears an inscription dating its construction to AD 967. Some 14 square towers provide vistas far and wide.
Castillo de Lacalahorra

One of the few castles newly built after the Christian reconquest, this was also one of the first in Spain to be built according to Italian Renaissance tenets. Despite its forbidding situation and exterior, its inner courtyard is exquisite, with staircases, pillars and arches carved from Carrara marble.
Castillo de Santa Catalina, Jaén City

Restored by the Christians, this 13th-century castle towers above the town and affords spectacular views.
Castillo de Vélez Blanco

Also in Italian Renaissance style, this structure has the soaring grace of a fairytale castle. Unfortunately, it was gutted in the early 1900s, but a reconstruction of one of the patios gives you some idea of its original splendour.
Castril

At the foot of an imposing stone outcropping and surrounded by the Parque Natural de la Sierra de Castril, this enchanting town dates back to Roman times. The parish church dominates the upper reaches, while down below there surges a mountain torrent.
Catedral de Jaén

The cathedral was primarily the work of famed Renaissance architect Andrés de Vandelvira, although the west façade was designed later, decorated with Baroque sculptures by Pedro Roldán. Every Friday between 11:30am and 12:45pm, one of Spain’s holiest relics, the Reliquía del Santo Rostro de Cristo, is brought out for the faithful to kiss. It is believed to be the cloth that St Veronica used to wipe Christ’s face on the road to Calvary. An impression of the holy face is said to have been miraculously left upon it (see Jaén City).
Cathedral & Capilla Real, Granada

To unequivocally establish Christian rule, these triumphalist structures were built by some of the greatest architects of the age and adorned with important works of sculpture and painting, much of it Renaissance. The towering, light-suffused interior of Granada’s cathedral is one of the most spectacular achievements of the period, while the façade, by Alonso Cano, echoes the ancient triple arch favoured by Roman emperors. The Capilla Real (Royal Chapel) is Granada’s finest Christian building and a repository of rare treasures, including a reja (gilded grille) by Bartolomé de Jaén, priceless crown jewels, and paintings by Roger van der Weyden and Sandro Botticelli (see Capilla Real and Catedral, Granada).