Alfacar

The privileged location of the town and the purity of its water made this one of the favourite places of the ziríes monarchs. They retired to the area to spend “Pascua de los Alaceres”, the celebration of the autumn harvest.

You can access the Parque Natural de la Sierra de Huétor from here. The town is surrounded by the Sierra de la Alfaguara, and its Mediterranean climate helps the many pine and oak trees grow in abundance. There are many monuments from both the Arab and Christian period for tourists to visit, as well as a number of celebrations and traditional festivities in which participation is encouraged.

The first indications of the existence of a human settlement here are archaeological remains going back to the Neolithic era. However, the town was first founded in the Zirid period (1010-1090) when al-Fajjar (farmhouse of the potter or of clay) was first referenced. Al-Khatib and Ibn Battuta (14^th and 15^th centuries) both refer to it as place of leisure and later a place of bloodshed during the years of the Reconquista.

On 22^nd December 1491 the Muslim inhabitants signed the Capitulation of Alfacar. Felipe II’s policy of expelling the Moors (1579) also affected this town. However it was later repopulated by several Castilian families. In one of the ravines between Alfacar and Víznar the poet Federico Garcia Lorca was assassinated.

The artisan bread, awarded the Indicación Geográfica Protegida, is of excellent quality and has made Alfacar and its flour-mills famous. Other traditional dishes are the alimoje with cod or eggs, and porridge with honey. Mushrooms are also frequently used in local recipes.