Olive Oil Route - Cordoba to Granada
Spain produces and consumes more olive all than any other country in the
world. This is a picturesque journey cross country from Cordoba through the
premier olive growing province of Jaen to Granada.
Leave Cordoba on the N432 heading south east and very soon you'll see nothing
but olive trees across the whole landscape. In Andalucia there are an estimated
165 million olive trees.
The appearance of these trees varies as you travel the
region because there are 262 varieties of olives. The harvest takes place
between November and February and given the nature of the terrain is still a
mainly manual task.
The first town we come to on this route is Espejo which is notable for
its impressive 14th Century Moorish Castle.
Castro del Rio is the next sign of habitation, a town with a long
history. The Moorish castle was constructed on the foundations of a former Roman
fort. A Roman bridge still stands in the town. The town hall building houses a
former prison where Cervantes was wrongly locked up for a week after being
accused of tax fraud whilst working there as a tax collector.
Baena is the largest town en route and acts as the centre of the region's
olive oil industry. Olive oil was interestingly introduced to the Iberian
Peninsula by the Greeks and the growing of olive trees was developed by the
Romans. The arrival of the Moors lead to improved agricultural techniques and
alternative culinary and medicinal uses.
Other towns of interest in this area known as the Subbética which are off this
main route include Luque, Zuheros and Priego de Cordoba.
Alcaudete is the next town we come to where you'll spot a 10th Century
Moorish Castle with a huge keep from some distance.
Alcala la Real is the final town of interest with its Moorish fort
reconstructed as Castilla de la Motta.
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