Los Pueblos Blancos

At lunch in Pampaneira: laundry behind us with view of Sirra Nevadas in front

At the very end of the 15th century, the Christians conquered Granada, the last Moorish stronghold in Spain. The treaty between the Christians and Moors stipulated that the Moors be allowed to practise their religion, their language and  their culture. When it became clear that the ruling Chrisitians had no intent in honoring this, the Moors, escaping religious persecution, fled to the hills south of the Sierra Nevada Mountains (called the Alpujarras) and established many white villages. We spent the 28th visiting three of these villages: Lanjaron, Orgiva, and Pampaneira. They were all wonderful and deserve much more time than we gave them. As one moves further east along the winding mountain road, the villages become smaller and less developed such that by walking amongst the tiny streets one begins to get a sense of what living in such a village at that time entailed.

The narrow paths would make for an incredible motorcycle scene. As we wound our way up the hill of Pampaniera, we were presented with glimpses of the snow-capped Sierra Nevadas. Also tucked away in corridors and alleyways were bars and stores. There are several more towns even higher and more remote and I look forward to coming back to visit them. Unlike the typcial pitched "Spanish" style roofs, the roofs were flat with round chimneys sticking out of them. The towns get their waters driectly from the mountains.