Albuñuelas is a village at the head of the Lecrin Valley,

Granada Granada (,, DIN 31635, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the fo ...

, Spain. It is made up of three neighbourhoods (''barrios''): Alto, Bajo and Fernán Núñez (locally called La Loma). It is situated on the European route Nº 4 (Spain to

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

History

There is evidence of habitation in the area from the late

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος ''lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone too ...

era. It is impossible to say exactly when the village originated. However, as the Greeks introduced better cultivation of both

vine A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselv ...

and

olive The olive, botanical name ''Olea europaea'', meaning 'European olive' in Latin, is a species of small tree or shrub in the family Oleaceae, found traditionally in the Mediterranean Basin. When in shrub form, it is known as ''Olea europaea'' ...

to Spain, together with methods of irrigation and Abuñuelas derived from the Latin ' vinolea ' meaning an area of vines, it suggests their cultivation before the time of the Romans 220 BCE until 409 CE. Here they found small, scattered pueblos built of adobe and whitewashed. They gave the province the name Betis where they had vines and grains cultivated, which together with minerals, were exported back to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

. There are still openings of mineworkings around the village. Evidence of

Moorish The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

occupation can be seen in the Torre del Tio Bayo, an tower constructed in the latter Nazarí period, about the middle of the fourteenth century. In the 12th and 13th centuries advances in

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counter ...

technology were applied to agriculture and the Roman

latifundia A ''latifundium'' (Latin: ''latus'', "spacious" and ''fundus'', "farm, estate") is a very extensive parcel of privately owned land. The latifundia of Roman history were great landed estates specializing in agriculture destined for export: grain, o ...

were superseded by the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

minifundia system. It is an area of frequent seismic activity. During the

Andalusian earthquake of 25 December 1884 The 1884 Granadan earthquake ( es, Terremoto de Granada de 1884) occurred on 25 December 1884 at 9:08 p.m in the south of Spain, and had an estimated magnitude of 6.7 . It shook a poor region where many of the houses were built without foundations ...

the village suffered considerable damage, in part due to landslides caused by the topography and soil composition. More than 70% of the houses collapsed, and the rest suffered serious or minor damage. There was most damage in the upper neighborhood. There were 102 dead and up to 500 injured.

Economy

Timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree native to Iran and surrounding countries, including the Levant. The almond is also the name of the edible and widely cultivated seed of this tree. Within the genus ...

s and olives form the main economic activity, on the Sierras de Albuñuelas, which rise to 1426m at Herrero. Albuñuelenses may occasionally be seen farming the surrounding terraces using

mule The mule is a domestic equine hybrid between a donkey and a horse. It is the offspring of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The horse and the donkey are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes; of the two pos ...

s but more often with modern machinery. Recent

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to E ...

has replaced the main crop of

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

with

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

and semi tropical fruit.

Natural History

Two main water courses are located in this municipality, Albuñuelas stream and Barranco de Luna. Both originate in the Sierra de Albuñuelas and excavate the eastern border of the Albuñuelas plateau.

References

Municipalities in the Province of Granada {{Granada-geo-stub