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ANDALUSIA

Ten things you probably didn’t know about Andalusia

In order to celebrate Andalusia Day on February 28th, we've unearthed 10 surprising and fascinating facts about perhaps Spain's most beloved region.

Published: 28 February 2024 10:16 CET
Ten things you probably didn’t know about Andalusia
The breath-taking city of Ronda, in Málaga province in Andalusia. Photo: David Vives/Pexels

It’s home to the only desert in Europe

When you picture the landscape of Andalusia, you’re likely picturing a sea of scorched dry hillsides, perhaps dotted with olive trees. You’re not wrong, parts of Andalusia are so hot and dry in fact that they’re actually considered to be a desert. Europe’s only desert is the Desierto de Tabernas, located in the province of Almería. It covers 11,625 hectares, has an average year-round temperature of over 17C and the amount of rainfall is only around 250 mm per year. It has such an iconic desert look in fact that many Westerns were filmed here.

Tabernas’ desert landscape and climate that characterize part of the province made it an ideal setting for Western films. (Photo by JOSE LUIS ROCA / AFP)
 

It’s also where you’ll find the rainiest place in Spain

It may surprise you, but not only is Andalusia home to the driest place in Spain, but it’s also home to the rainiest. Very rainy places may be more associated with the Basque Country, Galicia or Asturias, but it is in fact the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park that’s the wettest. The park sits east of the town of Arcos de la Frontera and around 80km north of Estepona on the Costa del Sol. It sees around 2,200 litres per metre squared each year. 

Dark clouds form over the Sierra de Grazalema. Photo: José Luis Rodríguez Martínez/Unsplash
 

Only 14km separate Andalusia from Africa

You may have heard that on a clear day, it’s possible to see the shores of the African continent from some parts of Andalusia, but did you know that the shortest distance between the two land masses is only 14km? This is the part known as the Strait of Gibraltar. The distance is so short in fact that many swimmers have even managed to swim between the two continents. 

And aerial view of the Strait of Gibraltar and Morocco. Photo: Daniel Camejo/Unsplash

It’s home to Europe’s biggest geode

In the province of Almería lies one of the world’s most astonishing treasures. The Geoda de Pulpí is Europe’s largest and the world’s second-largest geode, measuring an astounding 8m long by 2m tall. The geode is lined from floor to ceiling in dazzling crystals. It’s possible to visit the geode on a guided tour, which leads you 60m underground. 

The Geode of Pulpí was discovered in 1999. Photo: Andalusia regional government

Andalusia is where the highest mountain on the Spanish peninsula is found

The highest mountain in all of Spain is Tenerife’s Mount Teide at 3,715m, but the highest peak on mainland Spain can be found not in the mountainous north in the Pyrenees or the Picos de Europa, but in Andalusia. This is Mulhacén, found in Granada’s Sierra Nevada National Park with an elevation of 3,482m. 

The name Mulhacén is of Arabic origin, deriving from Mulay Hasan, one of the final Moorish kings of Andalusia. Miguel Alonso/Unsplash

The oldest city in Spain is here

The coastal city of Cádiz is not only Spain’s oldest city, but it is one of Europe’s too. It was founded by the Phoenicians in 1100 BC and began life as a port and a temple, where supposedly the ashes of Hercules were kept. This makes the city over 3,000 years old and it has been continuously inhabited ever since. 

Cádiz is also the most southern city in Europe. Photo: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen/Unsplash

It has more inhabitants than any other region in Spain

Castilla y León may be Spain’s largest region, but it’s Andalusia that has the most inhabitants. According to the latest stats available from 2023, Andalusia had a total of 8,576,703 residents. 

Crowds gather to see the Christmas lights in Málaga. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)
 

It used to be home to the richest city in the world 

The capital of Andalusia, Seville was once the richest city in the world. This was because the city’s Casa de la Contratación, established by the Crown of Castile in 1503 in the city’s port, managed an enormous fortune that flowed in from the explorers conquering the Americas. The company directed trade from the Americas for almost 220 years and during that time, transported a great number of riches and treasures across the Atlantic. 

Anonymous painting of Seville circa 1660 reflecting its wealth when dominating commerce with the New World.
 

García is the most common surname

According to the latest data from the Institute of Statistics and Cartography of Andalusia, García is the most common surname in the region, while María del Carmen and Antonio are the most common first names. A total of 3.3 percent of Andalusians are named María del Carmen and 4.6 are Antonio. These names mainly belong to the older population with an average of over 50 years old. Not only is María del Carmen the most popular name for women, but María is the second-most common, followed by the name Carmen. 

Andalusian poet Federico García Lorca, one of the generations of García in the region, is one of Spain’s most celebrated sons. (Photo by Jorge Guerrero / AFP)
 

One of its provinces has the largest concentration of castles in Europe

Andalusia is dotted with countless castles and fortresses, but it may be surprising to learn that one of its provinces has more than any other place in Europe. This is the province of Jaén. Some of the most spectacular are the Castle of Santa Catalina, the Castle of La Guardia, the Castle of La Mota, the Castle of Segura de la Sierra and the Castle of la Yedra. 

View of the ancient Yedra Castle in Cazorla, Jaén. Photo: Cristopher Eden
 

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CRIME

Shootings, raids and partying: How Spain’s Costa del Crime is thriving

Around 120 international criminal gangs from Ireland, Italy, Russia, the Netherlands, England and numerous other countries use the Costa del Sol city of Marbella as their centre of operations, with shootings and raids becoming all too common in recent years.

Published: 19 June 2024 10:22 CEST
Shootings, raids and partying: How Spain's Costa del Crime is thriving

Heavily armed police officers wearing face masks entered a luxury home at daybreak last week in Spain’s southern Costa del Sol to arrest a 40-year-old suspected drug trafficker.

He is believed to be part of a major cocaine cartel operating inside Europe and beyond, and his arrest was part of the culmination of a three-year operation involving law enforcement from 10 different countries.

The operation highlighted how the sunny coastal region has become a hub for international criminal groups whose members can blend in easily with their millionaire neighbours from around the world.

In recent years more trigger-happy gangs have moved in, raising alarm in the Mediterranean region, which polished its reputation for glitz in the 1970s when the Saudi royal family began spending their summers in Marbella.

While the Costa del Sol is used for money laundering, it is drug trafficking that generates “reckless delinquency, delinquency with no scruples,” the chief prosecutor in Marbella, Julio Martínez Carazo, told AFP.

When he took up the post in 1991, crime was mainly carried out by Spanish nationals and the seizure of a gun “was an extraordinary thing,” but now officers find automatic weapons, he said.

READ ALSO: Why is Spain Europe’s cocaine gateway?

Spain is the gateway to Europe for North African hashish and South American cocaine, making it attractive to international criminal gangs.

And as the world’s second-most visited country, it is well connected to other destinations, adding to its appeal.

Members of Spanish Guardia Civil, supported by Europol, arrest a man during an operation against drug trafficking in Mijas, near Marbella. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

‘Scores being settled’

Police in the Costa del Sol have in recent months arrested suspected drug traffickers from Albania, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland and the Netherlands.

But what has really alarmed locals are five shootings this year in Marbella linked to the theft of drugs by rival gangs, including one in March that targeted a popular restaurant frequented by celebrities.

“There are many criminal groups that have a permanent and stable presence on the Costa del Sol and this leads to scores being settled from time to time,” Antonio Martínez Duarte, the head of the national police’s drugs and organised crime unit UDYCO, told AFP.

Local authorities launched “Plan Marbella” in April to try to curb crime by boosting police numbers in the city of around 141,000 people and raiding several famous nightclubs.

Ten people were arrested during the plan’s first month, including some wanted in their home countries.

“It is a recognition by law enforcement that there is a problem here,” former Marbella mayor Pepe Bernal told AFP, adding that the establishment of international criminal groups in the region is causing “great dismay”.

“Before, these people came to Marbella just to spend their money or to enjoy it,” the local opposition councillor said.

The opposition has questioned Marbella’s conservative mayor Angeles Muñoz after her Swedish stepson, Joakim Broberg, was charged with money laundering and drug trafficking in a case pending trial.

Her husband, Swedish businessman Lars Broberg, was also charged but he was removed from the case for health reasons before his death in May 2023. She has denied any wrongdoing.

A man drives a car in Puerto Banus luxury marina and shopping complex in Marbella. (Photo by JORGE GUERRERO / AFP)

‘Luxury goes unnoticed’

Contacted by AFP, Marbella town hall said in a short statement that the city is “an enviable tourist destination in all areas, including security.”

Marbella’s old town, with its cobbled streets and traditional whitewashed houses, has an air of security as does its famous Puerto Banus port, home to shops selling luxury brands and exclusive restaurants and nightclubs.

“In Marbella, if you see a Porsche, a Lamborghini, you don’t think anything of it,” said prosecutor Martínez Carazo. “Luxury goes unnoticed,” and that makes it harder to detect ill-gotten wealth, he added.

After an extradition agreement between Britain and Spain expired in 1978, many British criminals settled in the Costa del Sol, prompting the British press to dub it the “Costa del Crime”.

Among them was Charlie Wilson, one of the perpetrators of the “Great Train Robbery” of 1963 — at the time Britain’s largest robbery. He was murdered in 1990 at his Marbella home.

In the 1980s there “were mafiosos, but no mafia” in the Costa del Sol, said ex-mayor Bernal. Those criminal gang members “were known because they lived well, and they were jet-setters,” he added.

“Now they are not in the limelight, they are not known, but they are here with their organisations. And that’s dangerous”, he said.

READ ALSO: ‘Easiest way to make a living’ – Southern Spain struggles to keep youth out of drug gangs

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