Alhama de Granada

The area around Alhama has been occupied since prehistoric times — Neolithic remains have been found in several caves near the river. Roman settlers established themselves at the site of the thermal baths, leaving behind remnants of country villas, a bridge, and a stretch of road, all near the Granada road to the north. The Arabic name Alhama means "hot spring," taken directly from those Roman baths.

The town's defining moment came on 28 February 1482, when Castilian forces under Rodrigo Ponce de León seized it from the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada — a reprisal for the Nasrid capture of Zahara de la Sierra the previous year. This conquest triggered the Granada War. The town held out through repeated Nasrid sieges; during one, between 1484 and 1485, the garrison commander even issued paper money. The event passed into Spanish cultural memory through the Romance de la pérdida de Alhama.

After the Reconquista, mosques became churches, souks gave way to open squares, and the Catholic Monarchs funded new civic buildings. The town later suffered Napoleonic occupation and a catastrophic earthquake on 25 December 1884. It took its current name, Alhama de Granada, following a municipal rename in 1916.

The old town is a declared historic-artistic ensemble, with most of its monuments concentrated in the southwest quarter. The centrepiece is the Iglesia Mayor de la Encarnación, a substantial Gothic-Renaissance church built in 1505 on the orders of the Catholic Monarchs, raised over the town's main mosque. It was the first Christian church consecrated in the former Nasrid kingdom; its doorway is the work of Enrique Egas.

Nearby stand several other notable buildings: the Renaissance Iglesia del Carmen with its baroque interior decoration; the Casa de la Inquisición, Isabelline Gothic in style, though only its façade is original; and the Hospital de la Reina, a Renaissance structure built over the former home of the Moorish qadi, now a craft centre with a fine courtyard and carved ceilings. The Granero Comunal was built over a synagogue that stood at the time of the Reconquista.

Two kilometres out toward Granada, the medieval thermal baths survive from the late Almohad and early Nasrid periods, alongside a Roman bridge over the Alhama river. The castle, rebuilt in the nineteenth century, is not open inside.

Alhama is around 90 minutes by car from Málaga Airport and 40 minutes from Granada Airport — both hire options are described as inexpensive. An ALSA bus runs from Granada four times a day, with the last service at around 18:30. Once in town, everything is walkable: fruit and vegetable shops, butchers, supermarkets, fish shops, bars and restaurants.

A Friday morning market sells fresh local produce, plants, clothes and household goods. Ventorro, at the top of the gorge, has a particularly good selection of locally produced olive oil, honey, almonds and wine. A small range of local crafts and postcards is available at the tabac on the corner of Plaza Constitución.

Casa Ochoa and Café Bar El Tigre are local favourites for coffee, lunch and tapas. Mesón Diego and Bar Andalus both serve a weekday menú del día for around €8 for two to three courses. La Seguriya is a sit-down restaurant with a gorge-view terrace and rural hotel rooms.

For evenings, El Encuentro plays pop and reggae; Por Amor Al Arte has live flamenco at weekends.