Established in 1998 as a national park, the Sierra Nevada Mountain range rising up above the ancient City of Granada has welcomed around 42,000 visitors between 25th June and 4th September this year. It's a new record that confirms the Sierra Nevada as a year-round tourist destination, bringing much-needed money into rural economies.
This summer hikers, thrill-seeking climbers, mountain-bikers and bird watchers spent some 8 million Euros in local restaurants, hotels and tourism-related establishments. The Sierra Nevada's dramatic, rugged mountain range is the highest in Europe after the Alps and represents the most significant section of the Cordillera Penibética. Well-known for its excellent ski slopes, the Sierra Nevada has now become a hot spot for bird watchers, horse riders, hikers and climbers.
Spain's biggest National Park
With a protected area of 86,208 ha, Sierra Nevada National Park is Spain's largest national park and one of Europe's rare high altitude habitats. It can boast sheer-sided gorges, some 7,000 plant species, torrential rivers, Andalucia's largest Ibex population, which amounts to about 5,000 individuals, not to mention turquoise glacial lakes overlooked by snowy peaks and stony scree slopes. Hikers can take their pick of lovely walking routes in the gorgeous foothill terrain of the Alpujarras, a rural idyll with charming villages surrounded by terraced vegetable patches and almond orchards.
Javier Fernandez, Minister for Tourism, was delighted about local entrepreneurship, where rural businesses had managed to evolve from purely winter and snow-related enterprises to embrace summer tourism with new ideas.
“The goal is that the Sierra Nevada is closed for the shortest possible time so that it can continue generating wealth and employment,” Mr Fernandez explained. “In this sense, it has evolved into an all-year market through our seasonal adjustment plan, which has allowed the Sierra Nevada to attract an increasing number of visitors every summer since 2010.”
Mr Fernandez also pointed to a 40% growth in summer activities on offer, such as the new bike park, which is a particular success, but bird-watching and mountain biking are also on the rise, the latter are also supported by the Ministry of Environment, who is whole-heartedly behind the tourist sector's plans to widen the scope of what can be offered to tourists.
And it's not just foreign tourists jetting into Granada Airport to explore the region. Marbella home owners at the Costa del Sol are also beginning to discover nature's riches perched almost on their doorstep. Thanks to excellent road links, it takes just an hour and half to reach the ski slopes and Sierra Nevada National Park from Marbella. With so many amazing planned for the Sierra Nevada region, next summer and winter season should be even more exciting!
Best Time to Hike in Alpujarras
If you're looking for a short hiking holiday somewhere unspoiled and romantic, the Alpujarras are ideal. The best time to visit is from April to mid-June and from mid-September to early November. Arrive any earlier in the summer season and it's still too hot, any later in November, and the first snow fall sets in.