User:El forastero

Albuñuelas, Lecrin Valley, Granada, Spain. . Altitude 817m. (Plaza Mayor) Population 1063 in 2007. Comprising 3 Barrios Alto, Bajo & Fernán Núñez. Situated on the European route Nº 4 (Spain to Crete) at the head of the Lecrín Valley, Lecrín derived from Arabic ‘ Iqlim ‘ signifying a gateway, situated between the villages of Mondújar & Talará. There is evidence of habitation in the area from the late Palaeolithic era. It is impossible to say exactly when the village originated. However, as the Greeks introduced better cultivation of both vine & olive to Spain, together with methods of irrigation and Abuñuelas derived from the Latin ' vinolea ' meaning an area of vines, it suggests their cultivation before the time of the Romans 220 B.C. until 409 A.D. Here they found small, scattered pueblos built of adobe and whitewashed. They give our province the name Betis where they had vines and grains cultivated, which together with minerals, were exported back to Rome. (There are still mines openings around the village) Roman culture was to give Spain its language, law, taxation, democracy, public institutions, piped water, the bathhouse with pool and sauna system (an example of which can be seen in Mondújar) paved roads and, eventually, about 40 A.D. Christianity. Evidence of Moorish occupation can be seen in the Torre del Tio Bayo, an 8m.high tower constructed in the latter Nazarí period: about mid-14 century. In the 12 th & 13 th centuries advances in hydraulic technology were applied to agriculture & the Roman latifundia were superseded by the Arabic minifundia system. It is an area of frequent seismic activity. The last disastrous earthquake took place on 25 Dec 1884 leaving198 dead and 500 injured: equal to 57% of the population. Timber, almonds & olives form the main economic activity, on the Sierras de Albuñuelas, which rise to 1426m at Herrero. Albuñuelenses may occasionally be seen farming the surrounding terraces using mules but more often with modern machinery. Recent climatic change has replaced the main crop of cereal with citrus & semi tropical fruit.