The Spanish poet García Lorca had described Andalucía as a land brimming with “gypsies, horses, archangels, planets, its Jewish and Roman breezes, rivers, crimes, the everyday touch of the smuggler and the celestial note of the naked children of Córdoba.” The 20th-century writer’s description still holds true. When in Granada, you can spot all of this revelling in its dark shadowy streets and nameless squares. Granada’s pull is tough to ignore. It calls to you with the splendour of its opulent Alhambra palace and citadel, a preserve of medieval history as the last stronghold of the Islamic Moors in Western Europe. Hemmed in at the foot of the desolate Sierra Nevada mountains and the plains of Vega de Granada, this tiny city rolls with the twang of Spanish guitars. The flourish of its flamenco bars is seductive and the scent of oranges lingers in its winding lanes. A neighbour to Seville, Granada offers a fascinating mix of ancient Islamic and a more recent Christian culture. The epic and the edgy host a stunning contradiction in Granada, and while you’re here you could visit a mausoleum of Catholic monarchs or you could unwind at old bars serving tapas. You could wile away your afternoons at Arabic teterías (tea rooms) and later, you might find it hard not to dip into Granada’s jovial nightlife that is suffused with the vigour of a gypsy culture.

@M.C.K.