The Countryside Property Portal for Andalucia, Southern Spain

Andalucia is the southernmost territory of Spain barely a stone throw from Africa. A country of colour, dramatic scenery, buildings that are remnants of an exotic and splendid past, the unique flamenco music and the dance of the gitanos (gypsies).

This area has intrigued travellers for centuries and much of what attracted those early visitors still lives on in Andalucia today, especially the warmth and generosity of its people and their love of life and to work hard and to play hard. There are many influences that have coloured Andalucia since the first paintings were etched on cave walls here more than 25,000 years ago.

Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Greeks, Romans, Visigoths and Vandals (Germanic peoples) and the Moors, the most influential of them all; they ruled for seven centuries and it was they who named it al-Andalus. The Muslim era left behind magnificent and famous buildings, in the Alhambra Palace in Granada and the Mesquita in Cordoba. They also left a deep imprint on the landscape such as the terraces and irrigation systems in the Alpujarra, the houses and even the food. The more recent Christian interest has given a fascinating folklore, a wonderful legacy of Gothic cathedrals, Baroque churches and mansions and Renaissance forts, towns and hill villages. Also, a myriad of castles some of which are in the most dramatic of locations. There are few places in the world that can boast the wealth and quality of natural wonders in such a compact area as Andalucia, the Parque Nacional de Donana in the delta of the mighty Rio Guadalquivir.

The Guadalquivir crosses and irrigates the region from its source in the Cazorla Mountains of Jaen to this park at the sea 400 kilometres away. To the east towering above Granada is the Sierra Nevada, snow-capped for most of the year and embracing Spain's highest mountain (Mulhacen at 3,478 metres). Thirty kilometres away and close to the beaches, sugar cane is grown, a legacy of the Moors. They also introduced oranges, almonds, aubergines, saffron and most of the spices used in the region today. From the villages of the Sierra Morena in the northwest to the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the picturesque white villages of the Alpujarra nestling in its folds and crevasses, many of them have barely changed since Moorish times.

Further east in the large expanses of semi desert and lunar landscapes of Almeria, sought by filmmakers to make westerns and astronomers, who were attracted by the clearest skies in Europe.

Then from the green damp Sierra de Grazalema in the southwest to the northeast and the rocky crags of the wonderful Parque Natural de Cazorla. All over Andalucia a wealth of excellent walking and flora and fauna can be found.

The climate is extremely warm in July and August and temperate in the winter, which is why the mixture of sun, sea and sand has been responsible for the Costa del Sol being one of the most densely populated tourist attractions, although it is only a short drive to find small quiet authentic villages and of course the magnificent area of Ronda.

There are, too, more sparsely populated stretches of Andalucia coastlines such as Cabo de Gata with its marine and land Natural Parque and the east coast the Costa de la Luz.