Andalusian Village Offers Christmas Cheer

ByABC News
December 2, 2003, 2:05 PM

P I T R E S, Spain, Dec. 3 -- We arrived in this Andalusian village onthe last day of Spain's 12-day Christmas celebration to find a bandand costumed marchers celebrating Three Kings' Day in the mainsquare.

A man launched a skyrocket from his hand as the kingsthemselves, actually a trio of local farmers, emerged from thechurch. Two wore wigs of flowing curls, the third was in blackface. Each mounted a wooden trailer towed behind a tractor, and theprocession waltzed through the center of Pitres, with the kingstossing candy to children. Like everyone else in town, we followedalong and were welcomed with smiles and a shower of confetti.

This was our introduction to the Alpujarras, a friendly regionof tiny whitewashed villages that has enchanted travelers forcenturies. After a frenetic week spent touring some of Andalusia'sgreat cities, our group of four travelers had come here seeking thequiet of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

On its way from the Sierra to the Mediterranean, the trickle ofmelting snow has chiseled deep gorges into the southern flanks ofSpain's highest mountains. It's a place of broad vistas and countryhospitality, of villages rising improbably from the near-verticallandscape, and well-trodden footpaths winding through pastures,olive groves and orchards.

Glimpsing Africa in Distance

The high places offer views of the sparkling Mediterranean 30miles away. Beyond is the shadowy skyline of Morocco's RifMountains.

This glimpse from Europe into Africa isn't unique in Andalusia.But perhaps nowhere else is the connection with the Islamic pastmore evident. Four centuries ago, this was the last stronghold ofthe Moors in Europe, and many of the high, quiet villages stillfeel exotic.

We had arranged a house rental in Mecinilla, which, along withPitres and five other villages, is part of La Taha, a districtdating to Moorish times.

Mecinilla is connected to its larger neighbor, Mecina, withwhich it shares a church near a grove of almond trees. The flat,white houses piled atop each other spill down the mountainside likepatches of old snow.