Huétor Tájar, by Adolfo Beltrán

I love el Poniente Granadino / Western Granada. I'm from Huetor Tajar. This Town has  good weather for the asparagus. asparagus from  Huetor has D.O.P. and are  very good to eat. 

I eat asparagus soup. This is made with onions, tomato, pepper, garlic, eggs, salt , olive oil, asparagus and yesterday’s bread. The Hueteños eat  a Mediterranean diet. 

The Hueteños and the Moraleda's people live in houses, but some live  in the caves. They  are built  underground with good temperature (20 C). 

In my Town and other Towns in the Poniente Granadino. we have  characteristic Arabic buildings. 

Loja´s cultural offer, by Mª Ascensión Moral

Loja has an important and large cultural offer. Among its festivals, we can mention the Semana Santa, declared a festival of National Tourist Interest of Andalusia. 

Loja has the Alcazaba Historical Museum, the Historic Interpretation Centre, and the Riofrío Environmental Interpretation Centre, which offer an interesting perspective on heritage and natural resources. And at the Water Interpretation Center, we can get an idea of the important relation between Loja and water. 

The cultural agenda includes other events, such as concerts and festivals; for example, Palma Rock or Volaera Flamenca, which are celebrated during the year and are added to the numerous exhibitions that take place in public spaces and private rooms. 

Loja, by Gema Piqueras

I LIKE MY CITY: LOJA 

Loja is a quite big and beautiful city in the South East of Granada. There are a lot of slopes, but it is quite lovely.  

PEOPLE AND FOREIGNERS. 

People are very nice and helpful with foreigners. They show them the city , squares, parks, restaurants, hotels, etc. Foreigners like eating good food in Loja: croquettes, potato omelette, serrano ham and olive oil. They drink beer and good wine. They buy boxes of  Loja rolls, which are really delicious. 

SHOPS. 

Shops in Loja are very interesting. Clothes are cheap; however, they are high quality. There are a lot of supermarkets, butcher´s and greengrocer´s.  

WATER. 

There are a lot of springs and fountains in Loja: for example, El Pilar, The 25 Pipes, Cold River, The Frontil, The Hades, etc. There are two factories of bottling water in Loja: their names are Fontarel y Font Natura. Their water comes from two springs called  El Pilar and The Dam respectively. 

MONUMENTS. 

La Alcazaba is an important and beautiful monument in this city, because it represents the history of Loja. 

The House, Gardens and the Mausoleum of Narvaez, duke of Valencia. There are  19th Century monuments, and the House of Narvaez is the council of Loja nowadays. 

Other important monuments are the Church of La Encarnacion and the Church of Saint Gabriel, whose façade is considered national monument because Diego de Siloe made  it. 

ARTS AND MUSIC. 

People of/ from Loja love arts and music. There are some Arts Academies. The Popular University is an important Arts and Music School.  

The Conservatory is very important in Loja. People like music very much and they sign up their children to learn it. There are some concerts at the Imperial Theatre. 

FOREIGN LANGUAGES. 

The Official Language School is very interesting. I go there two days a week, on Monday and Wednesday. Learning foreign languages helps you to improve your life. 

There are social advantages because you make new friends and traveling is funnier. 

On the other hand, teachers are very creative and lovely. They teach foreign languages very well. They love their job. 

Cerro Colorado, by Rocío Jiménez

Cerro Colorado, Villanueva Mesía.

One of the oldest natural spaces of Villanueva Mesía is the Cerro Colorado or “Cerro Colorao” as the people of the town call it.

This small hill of hardly 8 or 9 meters is the top of a meteorite. Its ground is red because of its high iron concentration.

In its top there are three big holm oaks that together are more than a century of age. Sometimes, in its shade you can see squirrels, rabbits and people looking for some tranquility while enjoying one of the most paronamic views of the town.

From its top you can see the River Genil, the poplar grove and the pine forests that hide the old dam.

In my opinion, it is the best place to escape from routine and read a good book.

Source of the 25 Pipes, by Ángel Matogo Miranda

This source is located in the Neighborhood of the Alfaguara, next to the current building of the Local Police and the laundry of the Alfaguara. It is a 16th century fountain that was restored in the 20th century.

It has its origin in the remote muslim times and its history is related to the existence of secret passages that communicated the fortress with a water source that supplied the walled city.

It is also called Fuente de la Mora due to a legend that says that its waters saw a beautiful story of love between a young moor and her Christian lover.

According to the legend, whoever drinks from each spout will find love that year.

Asparagus from Huétor Tájar, by Mercedes Gálvez

The engine of Huétor Tájar’s economy is the production, preservation and commercialization of green and green-purple asparagus, the latter under certified designation of origin. . The consumption of green asparagus is already typified in the sources since Romantimes .

The cultivation of asparagus in Huétor-Tájar begins in the thirties, always for self-consumption.  in the forties and fifties, marketing directed to the provincial capital begins. In the sixties, the asparagus arrive at more distant markets such as Madrid or Barcelona. The asparagus from  Huétor-Tájar is protected by a Specific Denomination of quality since October 22, 1996. On March 15, 2000, the European Commission registered the Asparagus of Huétor-Tájar as Protected Geographical Indication in the scope of all the European Union. 

Ventorros de la Laguna, by Jose Ruiz

Ventorros de la Laguna is a small village located west of Poniente Granadino, which was born at the edge of the realenga that passes through the town, being a place of passage and stay for transhumant herders. Later, with the abandonment of the farmhouses, it was growing in population up to the present when, in spite of the crisis that the rural world lives, the number of people in the census is stable, around 300 inhabitants. 

 This is located in a settlementnext to the river Genil with large tracts of Mediterranean forest. There is also land and olive grove, this being its main economic means, although during the middle of the last century it was also an important deposit of iron ore, which at present it is abandoned.