Property For Sale in Spain - Alhaurin el Grande - Apartments, Townhouses, Villas, Fincas, Cortijos. The first view the approaching traveller has of this village is of a succession of market gardens, as fertile as they are well tended, that descend in terraced steps into the valley where they mingle with extensive citrus plantations (oranges and lemons), olive groves, orchards and wheat fields that form a leafy and unbroken green carpet through which meanders the River Fahala. For more information about property for sale in Spain in or near Alhaurin el Grande please contact us.The urban part of the municipality, which sits on the north slope of the Mijas mountain range, has the uneven surface to be expected in an area of such steep terrain. Thus, some of its streets have picturesque crooks and turns to make climbing them a bit easier.It is known that this part of the province of Malaga has been inhabited by man at least since the Neolithic age -proven by some stone axes found at Huertas Altas- and that in succession the Iberians, Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans passed through here. It was the Romans who had the most influence.The arches that remain from an aqueduct near Fuente Lucena, or Fuente de los Doce Caños, as it is also known, on the road to Coin are from the Roman era, as are several water tanks. An alabaster statue and several coins of Dioclecianus have been found in this same place, while Tuscan column capitals have been discovered at the El Tesoro farming area.It was under Arabic domination, though, that the village took shape on its modern location and achieved greater economic power based on well-planned use of the water for irrigation. As is the case with so many other villages in Andalusia the name of this one, Alhaurín, also comes from the Arabic. Some students of the subject translate its root, Al-haur, as “valley”. During the Muslim period a fortress was built at this place on the spot where the Encarnación church now stands, and there were several others scattered about its municipal territory. The Arco del Cobertizo (El Cobertizo Arch) was also built during this period. After the conquest by Christian troops in 1487 –which was quite bloody, according to some reports-the customary division of the lands was carried out among the new Christian settlers. Their descendants, not wanting to be dependent on anyone else, purchased its jurisdiction in 1634. The coat of arms of the villa (royal burgh) includes the Toisón de Oro (Order of the Golden Fleece), granted by Carlos V. Carnaval (Carnival), the Feria de Mayo (May Fair, from 24 to 28 May) and the Nuestra Señora de Gracia festivities (15 August) are some of the celebrations that include numerous entertainment and sports activities in which the Alhaurinos very actively participate, but Semana Santa (Holy Week) is this village’s fiesta par excellence. The controversial competition between the “Greens” and the “Purples” translates into a dynamic celebration that not only does the entire town participate in, but is also an attraction of the first magnitude to many visitors from the province of Málaga and other places. The peculiarity of the Semana Santa in Alhaurín is that it combines the processions of the brotherhoods with enactments of a number of biblical passages. The brotherhoods of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (“The Purples”, who march on Holy Thursday) and of Santa Vera Cruz (“The Greens”, who stage their procession on Good Friday) take over the stage during the days of the Semana Mayor in Alhaurín el Grande. The supposed rivalry between the two brotherhoods simply consists in exceeding themselves, year after year, in the richness of the processional trappings and in improvements to the biblical enactments, which are meticulously staged, both as to scenography and costumes and as to matters pertaining to the texts that are recited. The identification by Alhaurinos with the Semana Santa brotherhoods is such that these two brotherhoods are also the centrepieces of this locality’s other two most notable celebrations. Thus, eight days after Corpus Christi the festival of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno is held, whose religious function includes bearing this venerated image in a procession, and on the festival of La Cruz (2 and 3 May) the figure of Cristo de la Vera Cruz is carried through the streets, borne by the brothers.The cuisine of Alhaurin el Grande mainly includes typical dishes from the interior of the province but also some that are more common on the coast, due to its proximity to that region. Gazpacho (a cold soup), both the summer and the winter version, migas (made from fried bread crumbs), sopa de puchero (stew) or sopa de caldo por encima (a dish made of bread with broth poured over it), or gachas cachorreñas (a kind of gruel) to which codfish or sardines are added according to taste or the season of the year make up this locality’s most representative menu. The sausages (chorizo, salchichón, and morcilla) and serrano ham are of excellent quality. As for confectionery, the bollos de aceite (muffins made with olive oil), empanadillas de manteca and empanadillas de hojaldre (types of small pies), mostachón (almond paste), polca and the exquisite pan de higo (fig bread) are worth noting.How to get there:
From the old highway N-340 get onto the A-366 in the direction of Coín. It will take you straight to Alhaurín el Grande. From the city of Malaga, take the Cartama road (A-357), and when you get there take the MA-425, which leads to Alhaurin el Grande. Another option from the Western Costa del Sol is to get off the Mediterranean Expressway and, between Benalmadena and Fuengirola, get onto the A-368 in the direction of Mijas. It connects afterwards with the A-366. This is a winding mountain road but is well paved and offers extraordinary scenic views both of the coast and, after crossing the Mijas mountain range, of the Guadalhorce valley.Tourist information:
Town Hall, Plaza del Convento (29120). Telephone: 952 491 275; Fax: 952 490 252.