The Poniente Granadino district spans the western part of Granada. It includes mountain ranges, valleys, plains and countryside that together form a rich and diverse landscape. The Poniente Granadino borders with the western mountain ranges as well as with the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama. This borderland is a mixture Christian and Arab cultures, with an ancient past.
Nature has been generous with this area. From the plains of the Río Genil to the peaks of the Sierra Nevada, this is a place where pines, cork trees and oak trees offer homes to the ibex, the golden eagle, the peregrine falcon and the goshawk. It is a natural environment that perfectly absorbs the typical Moorish villages such as Alhama de Granada, Arenas del Rey and Jayena.
The southwest is the most mountainous area and it is where the Tajos de Alhama – an impressive series of vertical walls topped by the town of Alhama de Granada – is located. The dolmens of the Peña de los Gitanos are a testimony to the megalithic cultures that once inhabited the region. Later the Iberians arrived, and then the Romans and the Visigoths. It was even the backdrop of the fall of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada. La Alhama was the doorway to the capital of the last Nasrid kingdom, made up of white villages with narrow streets built around old castles to defend the border from the Christian attacks.
This area’s traditional cuisine is based on ancient recipes inherited from the old Muslim and Jewish settlers. Ingredients of the finest quality are used. They include typical dishes from Andalucía such as gazpacho, stews, recipes using trout caviar from the Riofrio, asparagus from Huétor-Tájar, homemade goats cheese from Montefrio or the plains of Zafarraya, and typical Arab pastries from Loja.
