Alpujarra Tours -
Accommodation, activities and discovery in the Alpujarra Mountains of Granada Southern Spain
Casa Las Chimeneas, Calle Amargura, 6 Mairena, 18493 -
Telephone: 0034 958 760089 -
Website -
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- Casa Rural Las Chimeneas rated "excellent" by 2 travellers
Read the review of Las Chimeneas restaurant written by Chris Stewart of Genesis and ‘Driving Over Lemons’ fame
Read and comment about la Alpujarra in all it’s seasons
This year, together with our partners, we are offering two very special events. The first provides a chance to discover the butterflies , birds and flowers of the alpujarra with a real expert, this organised by the specialist group Nature Trek. For more details please click on the following link:
http://www.naturetrek.co.uk/wildlif e-
Meanwhile, following on from the success of last year, we are again providing the venue for Sam Clark of the Moro restaurant , who in the autumn will be here for another week of cookery demonstration and superb cuisine. For more information follow this link:
Specials
The Finca
David and Emma's organic farm
One of the very best things about life in the Alpujarra is learning about and working the land and enjoying the abundant produce given back as reward. For the last six years we have owned a small holding of about five hectares some ten minutes walk from Mairena in an area known as the Alfaguara, which means, we're told, an abundance of water in Arabic. A delightful stream runs through the centre and our two large balsas or irrigation tanks as well as our own spring rising near the prickly pears allows us to tend over 100 olive trees as well as numerous almond, cherry, medlar, apple, pear, persimmon, orange and apricot trees. Grape vines grow wild and with the very minimum of attention give us more grapes than we know what to do with. Whichever month you visit us we are happy for guests to visit the farm whether it is to spend an hour helping with the olive harvest in January, picking fresh oranges to supplement your picnic in March or gorging on almonds, figs, grapes and walnuts picked straight from the trees in autumn.
Over the years we have worked with the locals to show us how to irrigate, plough, prune and tend the land in the age old tradtions of the village. Why not join us for one of our early evening strolls down to the finca where we'd be happy to explain the complicated but fascinating irrigation systems first set up by the Moors in this area, pick some fruit then wander back to the villages past Adolfo's traditional olive mill where you can see how oil is made and taste the very special and particular taste of Mairena olive oil.
For the last 3 years we have enjoyed formal recognition from the Soil Association that the finca is organic. Not only does this mean that all our produce is natural, seasonal and delicious, but an absence of herbicides and pesticides also makes for an extraordinary variety of flowers, bugs and bird life. There is a small ruin on the finca that we keep as a bird hide. One drawback of our organic status, of course, is that all the weeds, hedgerows and grasses need to be controlled in the old fashioned way, ie. by hand………………it goes without saying that our visitors are more than welcome to assist in this surprisingly satisfying labour ! The same goes for the dry stone walls, which need regular maintenance. There are plenty of hammocks and shady corners to rest with a book afterwards!