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Andalusia or Andalucía?

The autonomous region of Andalusia (Andalucía in Spanish) is in the southern part of Spain. It spans from Atlantic coast in the west to the sheltered coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the east and from Málaga's Costa del Sol to the borders of Castilla – La Mancha the famous flat lands and Don Quixote windmill country.  With an average of 300 plus days of sunshine a year the coastal area is an all year round destination. Not so in the inland provinces of Cordoba, Jaen and Sevilla which ha ve baking hot summers that can reach +40c and cold winters which can be 0c or less overnight. The Mezquita, Córdoba Andalusia is divided into eight provinces, each with a provincial city of the same name. Some of them are far more famous than others: Almería , Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga and Sevilla. The three land-locked provinces are Córdoba, Jaé n and Sevilla, the rest are coastal. Each province and city is full of culture, history, traditions, fabulous monuments and cre...
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Granada means Pomegranate


It's that time of year when the pomegranates have just about finished, the trees are losing their leaves and most of the colour is on the ground, but they are still decorative. The drying split skin turns a lovely deep red like fans.

Drying Pomegranate on Tree

The pomegranate is not only the symbol of Granada city but in Spanish the pomegranate is called granada. Look closely and you'll see this vibrant fruit symbol all over the city, pictures and etchings are everywhere. It was the Catholic Kings who first used the pomegranate as a symbol when the final stronghold of the Moors, the Alhambra Palace, fell into their hands.

Spanish Ceramic Street Plaque, Granada


Pomegranate trees are deciduous, in winter they're twiggy and baringly boring then, those new fresh green leaves burst forth in spring, followed by beautiful orangey-red flowers which become gorgeously rich-coloured fruit, first like earrings then christmas tree baubles. Even after the fruit has ripened and burst open to reveal those beautiful ruby coloured seeds, which are packed full with antioxidant properties, and they fall to the ground or relished by birds the dying, drying tough skin takes on its own beauty.

Pomegranate Open on Tree

It's said to have originated from Iran and Afghanistan and is mentioned in the bible, where there are 163 commandments of the Jewish faith relating exactly to the number of seeds in every pomegranate. I haven't counted them personally but a tour guide once told me she had checked four and they were 163 seeds in each one. I'm happy to believe that and save myself the count.

We have a pomegranate tree in our garden which I'm trying to keep small, but every year it astounds me with its beauty in every seaso, from the tiny new, red-tinged leaves to it's abundance of decorative dangling fruit, ending in a ruby-rich harvest.




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