Located in the left margin of the Guadalfeo river, in front of the Guájares and at the base of the Lújar Mountain range, Vélez de Benaudalla offers very attractive natural surroundings. Excursions through the valley of the Toba river, natural accident that separates the mountain ranges of the Chaparral and the Guájares are advisable, and is advisable to visit the Garganta de los Vados, in the canyon of the Guadalfeo river. It is a place apt for rock climbing due to its steep walls. In the week ends young experienced climber meet in its surrounding, hung of these stone walls and ascend slowly towards the top.
Vélez de Benaudalla also has a rich historical and monumental patrimony. The rest of a mosque, within the town centre stand out, as well as a fortress perfectly conserved that was built by the Catholic Kings after their entrance in the town. Besides, a leafy Nasrid Garden, belonging to an almunia of more than five hundred years old, and the parochial Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario stand out as well. The Moors and Christians celebrations celebrated by its citizens are the ones with more tradition of the province.
This town appears mentioned in Arab sources at very early time with the occasion of the maladí revolt of the IX century and the one known like Vélez Battle. At this time it was part of a wide territorial area that integrated Salobreña and its district, within a subgroup in which with Vélez were the farmhouses of the nearby Valley of the Toba river. Indeed, in one of those farmhouses, today known as cortijo of Bernadilla, they have appeared rests of burials of this period.
In 1494, the seigniory along with the farmhouse of Guájar Fondón was granted to Don Juan de Ulloa, son of the mayor of Almuñécar Rodrigo de Ulloa, and was repopulated after the expulsion of the Moorish in the XVI century. Recently it has chosen the cultivations of tropical products and flowers
The pastry making of this town, that has Arab roots, enjoys a deserved fame, in special its pestiños and twisted rolls. They are also well known the vegetables and fruits that are cultivated in this area. The casseroles and the good fish do not lack in the tables of Veleña.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
