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The
municipality of Periana is framed in the north by the depressions of the Alhama
and Enmedio mountain ranges, with the dominant peaks in that area being La
Torca (1,499 metres), La Umbría (1,352 metres) and El Puerto del Sol
(1,100 metres). The terrain slopes southward to the La
Vinuela reservoir but first sprawls out into hills, lower than the aforementioned
heights, and the village lies on these. Immediately afterwards the territory
forms a ravine along the course of the River Guaro before it empties its waters
into the La Vinuela reservoir, which is the
only one in this region and the largest in capacity in the entire province
of Malaga. For more information about property
for sale in Spain in or near Periana please contact us.
In such terrain as this, which includes notably high peaks, gentler hills of medium altitude and much lower elevations adjoining the reservoir, and which is also creased by several rivers (the Guaro, Seco, Vilo and Sabar), it is not strange that there are such widely different arboreal species and such highly diversified crops; the area’s spectacular topography exhibits simultaneously, depending on the spot, zones of evergreen oaks, olive groves, grain fields, pastureland, orchards-especially of peaches-citrus fruit and carefully tended market gardens farther down where water is close at hand. There were human settlements in the municipality of Periana at least since the Mousterian (Lower Paleolithic) period, as is shown by relics found at Cerro de Alcolea, near Mondrón; at the El Fuerte hill and in the Marchamonas shelter in the northern zone, where there have even been some pictorial remains found. Remains of Lithic workshops have also been found in the Capellanía area adjacent to La Vinuela, a site that was inhabited until the beginning of the Bronze Age. These findings come as no surprise because the entire northern part of La Axarquía was occupied by man from the Prehistoric period, and Periana would hardly be the exception. There is nothing to indicate there were Roman settlements, however, despite the discovery of a coin from the late second century B. C. on the Capellanía hill.
Nor are there records
of Periana from the Arabic era, during which it presumably was no more than
a farm community that was referred to in the chronicles of the time as simply
a place passed through by the Christian troops who arrived from Archidona
in 1487 to conquer Vélez. It would not become an actual village until
the small San Isidro Labrador hermitage was converted into a parish church
in 1761, at which time it ceased to come under the jurisdiction of Riogordo.
The effects of the sadly famous Andalusia Earthquake of 25 December 1884,
which affected a strip of land 299 kilometres long by 70 kilometres wide,
were felt with enormous force in Periana despite the fact that it was not
at the epicentre of the quake. Many houses collapsed and 58 villagers perished.
Faced with such a disaster, King Alfonso XII visited the village in January
1885 and designated the sum of 300,000 pesetas to help repair the damage.
This amount was used to build the new church and a neighbourhood.
Fiestas
The devotion to San Isidro in many villages in Malaga
is quite well known, especially in those whose economies are based on agriculture,
as is the case with Periana where the saint is also the patron saint of the
village. The fiestas in honour of San Isidro therefore take on special importance
in Periana, which around 15 May dedicates five days of intensive activity
to him: sports competitions, folklore performances, bullfights, verbenas (traditional
street parties), fireworks displays, street celebrations, etc., and above
all the Festival Flamenco de la Alta Axarquía (Flamenco Festival of
Upper Axarquía). The religious part of the fiesta is provided by the
saint’s procession through the streets on 15 May. Along the route, the
throne bearers bring the image close to the balconies of the houses, and the
villagers take advantage of this moment to use a type of spout to hurl wheat
at San Isidro to show thanks for the harvest. The amount of wheat offered
to the saint varies from one year to the next, but the offering has never
been less than 20,000 kilos.
The Día del Aceite
Verdial (Verdial Olive Oil Day) in late March is a newly created festival
intended to publicise the extraordinary olive oil that is extracted from the
verdial olive in Periana. The Feria del Melocotón (Peach Fair) no longer
has the purpose of making this exquisite Periana fruit known, it is rather
in recognition of a product that is exported to all areas due to its unquestionable
quality. The peach (melocotón) seems to have been introduced to Periana
by a villager called “El Rojo” (The Red), who brought it from
Argentina more than 150 years ago. Little by little the “durazno”,
as it was known as at that time, created a niche in the markets of the adjacent
villages until it became generally known, first in the province of Malaga
and then outside it. During the fiesta, which is held on the third weekend
in August, thousands of people come to the village and are presented not only
with peaches by the villagers but also with other typical local products,
usually accompanied by the appropriate beverage.
Food
Migas (a dish made from fried bread crumbs), sopa cachorreña
(a soup made with tart oranges), gazpachuelo (a fish soup) and ensaladilla
cateta (a salad containing potatoes, tuna fish, olive oil and vinegar) can
be listed among this municipality’s most traditional dishes, but it
is essential to make prominent mention of parpuchas, which are omelettes of
shredded codfish with gaches de harina (a kind of soup made with flour and
spices), and which are eaten after being dipped in sugarcane syrup. The guiso
de Semana Santa (Holy Week stew) is similar to potajo de garbanzos con tagarninas
(chickpea stew with Spanish oyster plant), a dish that also may be eaten during
the Christmas season. As for confectionery, tortas de aceite (olive oil cakes)
are, without a doubt, worthy of the highest recommendation.
How to get there:
Turn off the Mediterranean Expressway (A-7; N-340) onto the A.335
as though going to Vélez, but without entering that village, continue
on the same road towards Alhama de Granada. Upon
arrival at El Cruce turn onto the A-6118, which leads to Periana.
Tourist information:
Town Hall, Plaza de Andalucía, 1 (29710). Telephone: 952 536 167; Fax:
952 536 276.
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