The professor Asín Palacios said that the word Huelma derives from the Arab al-Walima, which means “the meal party”. Seco de Lucena translated it like “farmhouse of the Host”. It is located in the centre of the Western, in the strategic point where converge the main ways that cross the area. In its urban core they conserve numerous house-caves, some of which are being prepared for the rural tourism.
Its origin is clearly Islamic and in the XIV century the Arab historian Al-Jatib mentions in his writings eleven farmhouses of the area, among which was al-Walima. Its name suggests that there was a recreational estate in the surrounding during that historical period, from which a wider population centre was constituted. It was in the route of the great cortijos between Granada and Alhama. After the conquest by the Catholic Kings finished in 1492, Ventas de Huelma passed to Christian hands. In the XVII century the historian Henríquez de Jorquera mentions in his writings the existence of great farms like Guemal, annexed to the villa of Ventas.
The stews, the papas a lo pobre, the partridges, remojón and the collejas omelette are typical in Ventas de Huelma. Among its desserts the twisted rolls of San Antón, the ones of egg and the sponge cake stands out.
© Patronato Provincial de Turismo de Granada I Diputación de Granada
