Alpujarra de la Sierra

Alpujarra de la Sierra, Spain
municipality
Flag of Alpujarra de la Sierra, Spain Flag Official seal of Alpujarra de la Sierra, Spain Seal
Location of Alpujarra de la Sierra Location of Alpujarra de la Sierra
Country	Spain
Province	Granada
Municipality	Alpujarra de la Sierra
Area
• Total	69 km2 (27 sq mi)
Elevation	1,110 m (3,640 ft)
Population (2007)
• Total	1,168
• Density	17.0/km2 (44/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)

Alpujarra de la Sierra is a municipality located in the province of Granada, Spain. According to the 2007 census (INE), the city has a population of 1168 inhabitants.

History

It was formed by the union in 1971 of Mecina Bombarón and Yegen, and is situated in the central-northern area of La Alpujarra (Granada), 108 km from the provincial capital, in the south-east of Spain. It is bounded by the municipalities of Lanteira, Válor, Ugíjar, Cádiar and Bérchules.

Its council was formed from the centres of Mecina Bombarón, Yegen and Golco, together with the cortijada (hamlet/farmstead) of Montenegro, Spain.

The municipality lies on the southern slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains, and the houses look out towards the mediterranean sea in the distance. Its terraced farmlands are watered by the melting snow from above, giving rise to a high-altitude oasis of greenery above the arid foothills below.

Alpujarra de La Sierra is one of over 50 villages in the area, which were the last stronghold of the Spanish Muslims, or Moors. Soon after the Castilians took Granada in 1492, all the region's Moors were forced to convert to Christianity. Those who refused took to the hills, settling in this remote, inaccessible area. Alpujarra de la Sierra retains its traditional Berber architecture and has many quaint white houses with flat clay roofs lining narrow streets.

Alpujarra de la Sierra is probably most famous for one of its past residents - the author, Gerald Brenan who wrote "South From Granada", which recounts the adventures of an Englishman who after serving in World War I, walked through Andalucia in search of a cheap place to live and write, and discovered the tiny village of Yegen. He rebuilt a ruined house (now marked with a plaque in his memory) and was visited by many of his friends of the famous Bloomsbury group. In his book Brenan describes the everyday life of Yegen in the 1920s.