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Spain’s tallest peaks – and, after the Alps, Europe’s second loftiest chain – make Andalucía home to some excellent skiing in winter, robust trekking in spring and summer, and a favourite with naturalists who come to marvel at the abundant wild-flowers and wildlife. For the more culturally inclined, the historic villages of the Alpujarras, on the dramatic southern slopes, are a fascinating study in an ageold way of life.

The fairytale “Arabian Nights” palace of the Alhambra, together with its equally evocative gardens, constitute one of Spain’s principal attractions, drawing millions of visitors each year. In the city down below, the ancient Albaicín district embodies a microcosm of a North African village, a “Little Morocco”, with colourful market streets and tearooms. Above and behind the area stands Sacromonte, the traditional home of cave-dwelling gypsies (see Moorish Granada: The Alhambra).

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).

Don’t let the austere exterior fool you – inside the church and sacristy of this Carthusian monastery lurk some of the most flamboyant Spanish Baroque architecture and detailing you’ll ever encounter. So busy are the arabesques, flourishes and excrescences of gilded and polychromed stucco that the architectural lines are all but swallowed up in ravishing visual commotion.

Sadly, the many depths of Granada’s talented native son – playwright, poet, artist, musician, impresario – were denied to the world when he was murdered at the age of 38 by Fascists at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War. His birthplace, in a village near Granada, has been turned into a museum devoted to his memory (see Federico García Lorca).

Clinging precariously to the edge of a breathtaking gorge, this whitewashed village has been known since Moorish times for its beauty and natural thermal waters (al-hamma means “hot spring” in Arabic). The Hotel Balneario preserves the 11th-century aljibe (cistern), graced by Caliphal arches. In the 16th-century Iglesia de la Encarnación some of the priestly vestments on display are said to have been embroidered by Queen Isabel the Catholic.

The Costa Tropical is perhaps Spain’s most spectacular coast, where towering mountains rise from the shore. Almuñécar is the chief town along this stretch and it is now given over almost entirely to resort life. Yet it has an ancient heritage, dating back to the Phoenicians, and was an important port under the Moors. The intriguing Museo Arqueológico Cueva de Siete Palacios has a unique Egyptian vase dating from the 7th century BC (see Museo Arqueológico Cueva de Siete Palacios, Almuñécar).

This ancient town is famous for its cave dwellings, inhabited for centuries. They were developed after the reconquista by local Moors who had been cast out of society by the Christians. The Barrio de las Cuevas is a surreal zone of brown hills with rounded whitewashed chimneys sprouting up here and there. To learn more, visit the Cueva-Museo or instead stay in a cave hotel (see Cuevas Pedro Antonio de Alarcón, Guadix).

Notwithstanding its poetic Arabic name (al-mariyat means “mirror of the sea”), this town has lost much of its appeal due to modern development. Still, it does have a most impressive 10th-century Alcazaba, one of the most massive of the extant Moorish fortresses, and an engaging old quarter that still seems North African in essence.

The interior of Almería Province resembles the deserts and canyons of the American Southwest: it was the perfect spot for filming the Wild West epics known as “Spaghetti Westerns” in the 1960s and 1970s. Three of the sets are now theme parks: Mini Hollywood, Almería, Texas Hollywood and Western Leone offer stunt shows and memorabilia.