CULTURE

Life is simple here, focussing on family, land and health. It is ruled by the seasons, saints' days and the wax and waning of the moon.

Everything in the seventeen or so small agricultural villages of the valley is done with a relaxed but steady pace. The locals, generous, kind and fun, have time for pleasantries despite working hard to tend and harvest their crops of almonds, olives, oranges and lemons, apples, pomegranates, cherries, peaches - and even, nearer to the coast, bananas, avocados and mangoes.

There is always an abundance of fresh vegetables, olive oil and honey. Animals are reared for meat by almost every house owner - providing healthy, well fed, happy animals and tender, sweet and unadulterated meat.

Days start at sunrise when the men lead their mules laden with woven grass panniers full of tools, and their dogs (often riding on top) out of the village to the surrounding countryside to tend their crops. They leave the stables in the ground floor of the village houses and clip clop out through the narrow streets of the villages - just wide enough for them. Not much room for cars in the centre!

Time here passes easily, taken up by the agricultural activities of the Valley:

• olive picking in January
• the sight of miles of pink almond blossom in February
  
• the sweet, heady smell of orange blossom in April and May
• the increasing smell of rosemary, lavender and thyme on the hills as the sun becomes hotter in June
  
• the summer sun reveals racks and rows of drying tomatoes, chillies, peppers and maize, and the smell of fruit being preserved
  
• in September, the late evening sounds of machines shelling the almonds brought to the village by mule from the campo
  
• the October sight of the grapes arriving in the village and the smell of fermentation of the new vintage
  
• the evocative smell of olive wood burning on cosy hearths tells us winter is on us and there is snow on the Sierra

The summer months are also the time to party! Every village has its own week to fiesta - and no one can party like the Spanish! These colourful events involve parades, fairgrounds, dancing, football, bands and many, many fireworks!

Main sections of the Casa Amelia website:

About the area
Welcome packs and catering - Our organic farm project
Useful information - Useful websites - How to contact us