Granada

Etymology

Granada's historical name in the Arabic language was غرناطة (Ġarnāṭa). Both the name's meaning and origin are uncertain and have been debated. The toponym definitely existed prior to the Zirid period in the 11th century. It probably first appeared in the 9th century and it is found in Arabic sources from the 10th century.

The word Gárnata (or Karnata) possibly meant "hill of strangers". Another meaning might be "hill of pilgrims". It could even have been of Berber origin. Another theory is that it derived from Latin granum (or its plural grana), meaning "seed", "beads", or a "scarlet colour", which would have been adapted into Arabic as Ġarnāṭa or Iġranāṭa. The Arab chronicler Al-Maqqari believed that it came from the Latin word for pomegranate, granata. In either case, the Latin word may have been used not in its primary sense, but in the more derived sense of "red", referring to the colour of the area's soil and its buildings. This would also mirror the etymology of the name of the Alhambra.

History

Pre-Umayyad history

The region surrounding what today is Granada has been populated since at least 5500 BC. Archeological artifacts found in the city indicate that the site of the city, including the area around the present-day avenue of Gran Vía de Colón, was inhabited since the Bronze Age. The most ancient ruins found in the area belong to an oppidum called Ilturir, founded by the Iberian Bastetani tribe around 650 BC. The name Elibyrge is also attested in reference to this area. This settlement became later known as Iliberri or Iliberis. In 44 BC Iliberis became a Roman colony and in 27 BC it became a Roman municipium named Florentia Iliberritana ('Flourishing Iliberri').

The identification of present-day Granada with the Roman-era Iliberis and the historical continuity between the two settlements has long been debated by scholars. Modern archeological digs on the Albaicín hill have uncovered finds demonstrating the presence of a significant Roman town on that site. Little is known, however, about the history of the city in the period between the end of the Roman era and the 11th century. An important Christian synod circa 300 AD, the Synod of Elvira, took place near this area (the name Elvira being derived from the name Iliberri), but there is no concrete archeological or documentary evidence establishing the exact location of the meeting. It may have taken place in the former Roman town or it may have taken place somewhere in the surrounding region, which was known as Elvira.

Founding and early history

The Umayyad conquest of Hispania, starting in 711 AD, brought large parts of the Iberian Peninsula under Moorish control and established al-Andalus. The earliest Arabic historical sources mention that a town named Qashtīliya, later known as Madīnat Ilbīra (Elvira), was located on the southern slopes of the Sierra de Elvira mountains (near present-day Atarfe) and became the most important settlement in the area. A smaller settlement and fortress (ḥiṣn) named Ġarnāṭa (also transliterated as Gharnāṭa) existed on the south side of the Darro River or on the site of the current Albaicín neighbourhood. The latter had a mainly Jewish population and thus was also known as Gharnāṭat al-Yahūd ("Gharnāṭa of the Jews"). The district around the city was known as Kūrat Ilbīra (roughly "Province of Elvira"). After 743 the town of Ilbīra was settled by soldiers from the region of Syria who played a role in supporting Abd al-Rahman I, the founder of the Emirate of Córdoba and a new Umayyad dynasty. In the late 9th century, during the reign of Abdallah (r. 844–912), the city and its surrounding district were the site of conflict between muwallads (Muslim converts) who were loyal to the central government and Arabs, led by Sawwār ibn Ḥamdūn, who resented them.

At the beginning of the 11th century, the area became dominated by the Zirids, a Sanhaja Berber group and offshoot of the Zirids who ruled parts of North Africa. This group became an important contingent in the army of ʿAbd al-Malik al-Muẓaffar, the prime minister of Caliph Hisham II (r. 976–1009) and successor to Ibn Abi ʿAmir al-Mansur (Almanzor) as de facto ruler of the Caliphate of Córdoba. For their service, the Zirids were granted control of the province of Elvira. When the Caliphate collapsed after 1009 and the Fitna (civil war) began, the Zirid leader Zawi ben Ziri established an independent kingdom for himself, the Taifa of Granada. Arab sources such as al-Idrisi consider him to be the founder of the city of Granada. His great-grandnephew's surviving "memoirs," known as the Tibyan – the only ones for the Spanish "Middle Ages" – provide considerable detail for this brief period. Because Madīnat Ilbīra was situated on a low plain and, as a result, difficult to protect from attacks, the ruler decided to transfer his residence to the higher situated area of Ġarnāṭa. According to Arabic sources Ilbīra was razed during the Fitna, afterwards it was not restored at its previous place and instead Ġarnāṭa, the former Jewish town, replaced it as the main city. In a short time this town was transformed into one of the most important cities of al-Andalus. Until the 11th century it had a mixed population of Christians, Muslims, and Jews.

Nasrid Emirate of Granada

In 1228 Idris al-Ma'mun, the last effective Almohad ruler in al-Andalus, left the Iberian Peninsula. As Almohad rule collapsed local leaders and factions emerged across the region. With the Reconquista in full swing, the Christian kingdoms of Castile and Aragon – under kings Ferdinand III and James I, respectively – made major conquests across al-Andalus. Castile captured Cordoba in 1236 and Seville in 1248. Meanwhile, the ambitious Ibn al-Ahmar (Muhammad I) established what became the last and longest reigning Muslim dynasty in the Iberian peninsula, the Nasrids, who ruled the Emirate of Granada. On multiple occasions Ibn al-Ahmar aligned himself with Ferdinand III, eventually agreeing to become his vassal in 1246. Granada thereafter became a tributary state to the Kingdom of Castile, although this was often interrupted by wars between the two states. The political history of the emirate was turbulent and intertwined with that of its neighbours. The Nasrids sometimes provided refuge or military aid to Castilian kings and noblemen, even against other Muslim states, while in turn the Castilians provided refuge and aid to some Nasrid emirs against other Nasrid rivals. On other occasions the Nasrids attempted to leverage the aid of the North African Marinids to ward off Castile, although Marinid interventions in the Peninsula ended after Battle of Rio Salado (1340).

The population of the emirate was also swollen by Muslim refugees from the territories newly conquered by Castile and Aragon, resulting in a small yet densely populated territory which was more uniformly Muslim and Arabic-speaking than before. The city itself expanded and new neighbourhoods grew around the Albaicín (named after refugees from Baeza) and in Antequeruela (named after refugees from Antequera after 1410). A new set of walls was constructed further north during the 13th–14th centuries, with Bab Ilbirah (present-day Puerta de Elvira) as its western entrance. A major Muslim cemetery existed outside this gate. The city's heart was its Great Mosque (on the site of the present-day Granada Cathedral) and the commercial district known as the qaysariyya (the Alcaicería). Next to this was the only major madrasa built in al-Andalus, the Madrasa al-Yusufiyya (known today as the Palacio de la Madraza), founded in 1349. Other monuments from this era include the al-Funduq al-Jadida ("New Inn" or caravanserai, now known as the Corral del Carbón), built in the early 14th century, the Maristan (hospital), built in 1365–1367 and demolished in 1843, and the main mosque of the Albaicín, dating from the 13th century.

When Ibn Al-Ahmar established himself in the city he moved the royal palace from the old Zirid citadel on the Albaicín hill to the Sabika hill, beginning construction on what became the present Alhambra. The Alhambra acted as a self-contained palace-city, with its own mosque, hammams, fortress, and residential quarters for workers and servants. The most celebrated palaces that survive today, such as the Comares Palace and the Palace of the Lions, generally date from the reigns of Yusuf I (r. 1333–1354) and his son Muhammad V (r. 1354–1391, with interruptions). Some smaller examples of Nasrid palace architecture in the city have survived in the Cuarto Real de Santo Domingo (late 13th century) and the Dar al-Horra (15th century).Partly due to the heavy tributary payments to Castile, Granada's economy specialized in the trade of high-value goods. Integrated within the European mercantile network, the ports of the kingdom fostered intense trading relations with the Genoese, but also with the Catalans, and to a lesser extent, with the Venetians, the Florentines, and the Portuguese. It provided connections with Muslim and Arab trade centres, particularly for gold from sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb, and exported silk and dried fruits produced in the area.

End of Muslim rule and 16th-century changes

On 2 January 1492, the last Muslim ruler in Iberia, Emir Muhammad XI, known as "Boabdil" to the Spanish, surrendered complete control of the Emirate of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs (Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile), after the last episode of the Granada War.

The 1492 capitulation of the Kingdom of Granada to the Catholic Monarchs is one of the most significant events in Granada's history. It brought the demise of the last Muslim-controlled polity in the Iberian Peninsula. The terms of the surrender, outlined in the Treaty of Granada at the end of 1491, explicitly allowed the Muslim inhabitants, known as mudéjares, to continue unmolested in the practice of their faith and customs. This had been a traditional practice during Castilian (and Aragonese) conquests of Muslim cities since the takeover of Toledo in the 11th century. The terms of the surrender pressured Jewish inhabitants (then numbering 110 households) to convert or leave within three years, but this provision was quickly superseded by the Alhambra Decree, issued only a few months later on 31 March, which instead forced all Jews in Spain to convert or be expelled within four months. Those who converted became known as conversos (converts). This move, along with the progressive erosion of other guarantees provided by the surrender treaty, raised tensions and fears within the remaining Muslim community during the 1490s. Many of the city's affluent Muslims and its traditional ruling classes emigrated to North Africa in the early years after the conquest, but these early emigrants numbered only a few thousand, with the rest of the population unable to afford leaving.

By 1499, Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros grew frustrated with the slow pace of the efforts of the first archbishop of Granada, Hernando de Talavera, to convert non-Christians and undertook a program of forced baptisms, creating the converso class for Muslims and Jews. Cisneros's new strategy, which was a direct violation of the terms of the treaty, provoked the Rebellion of the Alpujarras (1499–1501) centred in the rural Alpujarras region southeast of the city. The rebellion lasted until 1500 in Granada and continued until 1501 in the Alpujarras. Responding to the rebellion of 1501, the Crown of Castile rescinded the Treaty of Granada, and mandated that Granada's Muslims convert or emigrate. Many of the remaining Muslim elites subsequently emigrated to North Africa. The majority of the Granada's mudéjares converted (becoming the so-called moriscos or Moorish) so that they could stay. Both populations of converts were subject to persecution, execution, or exile, and each had cells that practiced their original religion in secrecy (the so-called marranos in the case of the conversos accused of the charge of crypto-Judaism).

Later history and present day

During the 17th century, despite the importance of immigration, the population of the city stagnated at about 55,000, contrary to the trend of population increase experienced in the rural areas of the Kingdom of Granada, where the hammer of depopulation caused by the expulsion of the moriscos had taken a far greater toll in the previous century. The 17th-century demographic stagnation in the city and overall steady population increase in the wider kingdom went in line with the demographic disaster experienced throughout the century in the rest of the Crown of Castile. The city was overshadowed in importance by other cities including Seville and the capital, Madrid.

Between 1810 and 1812 Granada was occupied by Napoleon's army during the Peninsular War. The French troops occupied the Alhambra as a fortified position and caused significant damage to the monument. Upon evacuating the city, they attempted to dynamite the whole complex, successfully blowing up eight towers before the remaining fuses were disabled by Spanish soldier José Garcia, thus saving what remains today. In 1830 Washington Irving lived in Granada and wrote his Tales of the Alhambra, which revived some international interest in southern Spain and in its Islamic-era monuments.

In the 1930s the tensions that eventually divided Spain were evident in Granada, with frequent riots and friction between landowners and peasants. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, Granada was one of the cities that joined the Nationalist uprising. There was local resistance against the Nationalists, particularly from the working classes in the Albaicín, which was violently repressed. During the 1950s and 1960s, under the Franco regime, the province of Granada was one of the poorest areas in Spain. In recent decades tourism has become a major industry in the city.

Geography

Location

The city of Granada sits on the Vega de Granada, one of the depressions or plains located within the Baetic mountain ranges, continued to the west by those of Archidona and Antequera and to the East by those of Guadix, Baza and Huéscar.

The fertile soil of the Vega, apt for agriculture, is irrigated by the water streams originated in Sierra Nevada, as well as minor secondary ranges, all drained by the catchment basin of the Genil River, that cuts across the city centre following an east to west direction. The Monachil, a left-bank tributary of the former, also passes through the city, discharging into the Genil to the west of the city centre.

Climate

Granada has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Csa) close to a cold semi-arid climate (BSk). Summers are hot and dry with daily temperatures averaging 34 °C (93 °F) in the hottest month (July); however, temperatures reaching over 40 °C (104 °F) are not uncommon in the summer months. Winters are cool and damp, with most of the rainfall concentrated from November through to January. The coldest month is January with daytime temperatures hovering at 13 °C (55 °F) and dropping to around 1 °C (34 °F) during the night. Frost is common as temperatures usually reach below-freezing in the early morning. Snow is rare and occurs once every few years. Spring and autumn are unpredictable, with temperatures ranging from mild to warm. Early summer in 2017 confronted the city with two massive heat waves that broke long-standing record temperatures starting on 13 June 2017, with a new maximum high for the month at 40.6 °C (old record 40.0), which was topped three times within the span of four days at 40.9 °C on 14 June, 41.3 (15 June) and, eventually, 41.5 (17 June). The second extreme surge in temperatures followed roughly a month later when readings soared to 45.7 and 45.3 °C on 12 and 13 July, respectively, surpassing the old July record by almost 3 degrees.

Demographics

As of 2024, the municipality of Granada has a population of 233,532, of which 46.2% are male and 53.8% are female. Since 1991, there has been a slight decrease in the population of Granada, in favour of smaller towns in the greater area.

As per the population pyramid:

People younger than 20 years old are 19% of the total population

People between 20 and 40 years old are 23%

People between 40 and 60 years old are 29%

People older than 60 years old are 29%

Foreign population

As of 1 January 2025, 34,904 people living in Granada were born outside of Spain, representing 14.83% of the total population, a rate lower than the national average. Foreign-born residents originate mainly from Latin America, with the top 5 most numerous being from Morocco (6,998), Colombia (3,252), Venezuela (2,184), Argentina (1,901), and Bolivia (1,695).

Urban areas

In the municipality of Granada there are five urban areas: Granada city, Alquería del Fargue, Bobadilla, Cerrillo de Maracena and Lancha del Genil. Due to the expansion of Granada city, Cerrillo de Maracena has been integrated into it.

Politics

Metropolitan area of Granada

Granada's metropolitan area consists of about fifty municipalities and the capital. Although it is not formally constituted as a political and administrative body, there are several public services that are combined. The arrival of many inhabitants of the capital and other towns in the province, influences a large population growth. Despite the fact that the capital loses inhabitants, who move to neighboring towns. The main causes of the exodus towards the towns of the metropolitan area are, mainly, the difficulty of accessing a home in the capital because of the high prices it has and labor reasons, because in the towns of the periphery the majority are being located of industrial estates.

Capital of Granada Province

The city of Granada is the capital of the province of the same name, thus all administrative entities of provincial scope dependent on the regional government and the state are located there. There is a provincial delegation from each of the governmental departments to the Junta de Andalucía, coordinated by a government delegate under the Ministry of the Interior. The national government of Spain has a sub-delegation in Granada, subordinate to the government delegate in the autonomous community.

Judicial administration

The headquarters of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla is in Granada, located in Plaza Nueva, in the building of the historic Royal Chancery, as well as the Superior Prosecutor's Office of Andalusia, located in the building of the Bank of Spain. It has a Provincial Court, located in Corteza del Carmen Street, and is also head of the Judicial Party No. 3 of the province, whose demarcation includes the city and 49 towns, some of them very populated, in the metropolitan area region.

Most of the courts are located in two administrative buildings, in Plaza Nueva and Avenida del Sur. The set of judicial bodies is as follows:

Superior Court of Justice: President. Civil-Criminal Chamber. Contentious-Administrative Room. Social room.

Provincial Court: President. Criminal: 2; Civil: 3.

Courts

Municipal organization

Its political administration is carried out through a City Council, of democratic management, whose components are chosen every four years by universal suffrage. The electoral roll is composed of all residents registered in Granada over 18 years of age, of Spanish nationality and of the other member countries of the European Union. According to the provisions of the General Electoral Regime Law, which establishes the number of eligible councilors according to the population of the municipality, the Municipal Corporation of Granada is made up of 27 councilors.

In the municipal elections held in 2019 the constitution of the City Council was eleven councilors belonging to the Popular Party, eight to the Socialist Party, four belonging to Citizens Party, three to Vamos, Granada and one to the United Left-Socialist Alternative-For the People. Luis Salvador, leader of Citizens, became mayor with support from the PP and Vox. Salvador resigned in 2021, having lost the support of the PP. He was succeeded by the Socialist Francisco Cuenca who had previously served as mayor from 2016 to 2019. In the 2023 Spanish local elections Cuenca was ousted by Marifrán Carazo of the PP. Carazo increased the PP's number of seats from 7 to 14, gaining her a slim majority and making her the first female mayor of the city.

Municipal districts and neighborhoods

The municipality of Granada consists of eight districts whose population is distributed in the attached chart according to the 2009 census of the City of Granada. These districts formed a set of 36 neighborhoods. All boundaries of districts and neighborhoods were modified in February 2013.

Municipal service areas

The municipal government team has organized the distribution of management responsibilities, structuring itself in the following service areas: Weddings and Palaces, Equal opportunities, Economy, Education, Communication office, Unified license management, Youth, Environment, Municipal Office of Consumer Information, Citizen Participation, Group of Civil Protection Volunteers, Local Police.

Districts

Realejo

Realejo has been described as a Jewish district in the time of the Nasrid Granada. Today, the district is made up of many villas, with gardens opening onto the streets, called Los Cármenes.

Cartuja

This district contains the Carthusian monastery of the same name: Cartuja. This is an old monastery started in a late Gothic style with Baroque exuberant interior decorations. In this district also, many buildings were created with the extension of the University of Granada.

Bib-Rambla

The toponym derives from a gate (Bab al-Ramla, or the Gate of the Ears) that was built when Granada was controlled by the Nasrid dynasty. Nowadays, Bib-Rambla is a high point for gastronomy, especially in its terraces of restaurants, open on beautiful days. The Arab bazaar, the Alcaicería, is made up of several narrow streets, which start from this place and continue as far as the cathedral.

Sacromonte

The Sacromonte neighborhood is located on the extension of the hill of Albaicín, along the Darro River. This area, which became famous by the nineteenth century for its predominantly Gitano inhabitants, is characterized by cave houses, which are dug into the hillside. The area has a reputation as a major centre of flamenco song and dance, including the Zambra Gitana, an Andalusian dance originating in the Middle East. The zone is a protected cultural environment under the auspices of the Centro de Interpretación del Sacromonte, a cultural centre dedicated to the preservation of Gitano cultural forms.

Zaidín

This formerly blue collar but now upmarket neighborhood houses 100,000 residents of Granada, making it the largest neighborhood or 'barrio'. Traditionally populated by Romani people, now many residents are from North and West Africa, China, and many South American countries. Every Saturday morning it hosts a large outdoor market or "mercadillo", where many people come and sell their wares of fruits and vegetables, clothes and shoes, and other bits and bobs.

Economy

Granada produces agricultural products such as barley, wheat, sugarcane and tobacco. Besides these crops, olive trees as well as oranges, lemons, figs, almonds, and pomegranates are also commonly grown. For manufacturing, sugar refining is also made in the city. Vineyards and wines are also a significant contributor to the city and region. In 2020, Granada exported a total of $1.3 billion products.

Social welfare

Education

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531 by the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, meant the continuation of higher studies in La Madraza, when the city was the capital of the last Nasrid Kingdom. The university has become internationally recognised in many university fields: teaching, research, cultural and services to its members and its surroundings. It is therefore one of the destinations that receives more exchange students from the Erasmus Program13 and the fourth Spanish university in number of students, after the Complutense University of Madrid, and the University of Seville. The university has around 47,000 undergraduate students.

In the city there are a total of 69 compulsory secondary education centres. Infant and primary education is taught in 104 centres, distributed among private, concerted and public centres. There are also five adult education centres.

Health

Granada schools public health system is the exclusive competence of the autonomous community, which provides two types of attention: primary, which constitutes the first level of access to the system; and the specialized one. Health centres and offices constitute the offer of primary care, differing from each other in the level of care they provide.

Its hospital network is basically composed of public hospitals managed by the Andalusian Health Service and other smaller private management centres. This network covers the needs of the city and its Metropolitan Area. In total there are 2047 beds.

The Hospital of the Health Campus, was inaugurated completely in July 2016 and is the second largest in Spain – after La Paz Hospital – and is the reference centre in the city for the areas of Allergology, Pathological Anatomy, Hematology, Internal Medicine, Mental Health, Pulmonology, Radiotherapy or Urology, among others; Orthopedic and Traumatological Surgery; Rehabilitation and Physical Medicine; Neurology, Neurosurgery, Neurophysiology, Maxillofacial Surgery, Plastic Surgery, Dermatology, Ophthalmology, Otorhino, Rheumatology, Endocrinology and Vascular Surgery.

The Virgen de las Nieves Regional Hospital (popularly known as Ruiz de Alda Hospital), is formed by a general hospital, a maternal and child hospital, all located in the same enclosure, and is maintained as a nerve centre of Digestive, Respiratory, Oncology, Hematology and Transplants. It includes the San Juan de Dios Hospital, a peripheral centre of specialties and a therapeutic unit for the mental illnesses.

The Hospital of San Rafael, has a hospitalization capacity of 190 beds and as a day hospital has 45 places of geriatrics and 15 of Alzheimer's. It is owned by the Hospital Order of San Juan de Dios. It is especially dedicated to the comprehensive care of the elderly, possessing a large number of analysis and rehabilitation services. The hospital activity is arranged with the Ministry of Health of the Junta de Andalucía.

La Inmaculada Clinic is a private hospital belonging to the ASISA insurance company born as a concerted hospital of the Spanish Health System in 1975. Through an agreement with the University of Granada, the centre also participates in the training of students of the Faculty of Medicine.

Transport

Metro

Construction of a light rail network, the Granada metro, began in 2007, but was greatly delayed by the Spanish economic crisis. Service finally started on 21 September 2017. The single line crosses Granada and covers the towns of Albolote, Maracena and Armilla.

Bus

The main company operating bus transport in Granada is Transportes Rober. There is also bus transportation to and from the airport with the company Alsa.

Rail

Granada railway station has rail connections with many cities in Spain. There are several types of train service to and from Granada

Short-distance trains

Medium distance trains

Long-distance trains

AVE (high speed long distance) via the Antequera–Granada high-speed rail line. The closest AVE connection is in Antequera-Santa Ana railway station.

Taxi

Granada has a wide network of taxis to help travellers reach their destinations. Official Granada taxis are white with a green stripe.

Airport

The nearest civil airport is Federico García Lorca Airport, about 15 km (9 mi) west of Granada. The Armilla Air Base was the first civil airport serving the city and its surroundings but it was replaced by the former airport in the 1970s and repurposed for military uses.

Granada Public Transportation statistics

The average amount of time people spend commuting with public transit in Granada, for example to and from work, on a weekday is 42 min. 9% of public transit riders, ride for more than 2 hours every day. The average amount of time people wait at a stop or station for public transit is 10 min, while 8% of riders wait for over 20 minutes on average every day. The average distance people usually ride in a single trip with public transit is 2.7 km, while 0% travel for over 12 km in a single direction.

Culture

Heritage and monuments

The Alhambra is a fortified palace complex located on the Sabika hill, an outcrop of the Sierra Nevada which overlooks the city of Granada. It is one of the most famous monuments of Islamic architecture and one of the best-preserved palaces of the historic Islamic world, in addition to containing notable examples of Spanish Renaissance architecture. It is one of Spain's major tourist attractions and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984.

The complex was begun in 1238 by Muhammad I Ibn al-Ahmar, the first Nasrid emir, on the site of earlier fortresses and of the 11th-century palace of vizier Samuel ibn Naghrillah. Later Nasrid rulers continuously modified the site, most notably during the reigns of Yusuf I and Muhammad V in the 14th century. During this era, the Alhambra was a self-contained city separate from the rest of Granada below. It contained most of the amenities of a Muslim city such as a Friday mosque, hammams (public baths), roads, houses, artisan workshops, a tannery, and a sophisticated water supply system. As a royal city and citadel, it contained at least six major palaces, most of them located along the northern edge where they commanded views over the Albaicín quarter. The most famous and best-preserved are the Mexuar, the Comares Palace, the Palace of the Lions, and the Partal Palace, which form the main attraction to visitors today. The other palaces are known from historical sources and from modern excavations. At the Alhambra's western tip is the Alcazaba fortress, the centrepiece of its defensive system. The architecture of the Nasrid palaces reflects the tradition of Moorish architecture developed over previous centuries. Decoration is focused on the inside of the building and was executed primarily with tile mosaics on lower walls and carved stucco on the upper walls. Geometric patterns, vegetal motifs, and Arabic calligraphy were the main types of decorative motifs. Additionally, "stalactite"-like sculpting, known as muqarnas, was used for three-dimensional features like vaulted ceilings.

After the conclusion of the Reconquista in 1492, the site became the Royal Court of Ferdinand and Isabella (where Christopher Columbus received royal endorsement for his expedition), and the palaces were partially altered. In 1526, Charles V commissioned a new Renaissance-style palace, now known as the Palace of Charles V, in direct juxtaposition with the Nasrid palaces, but it was left uncompleted in the early 17th century. Other notable Renaissance additions from the reign of Charles V include the Emperor's Chambers and the Peinador de la Reina ('Queen's Robing Room'), which are connected to the former Nasrid Palaces.

Mosque of Granada

The new mosque was inaugurated in 2003 on the summit of the neighborhood of Albayzin. The mosque was built near the Church of San Salvador and the Church of San Nicolás. The Church of San Salvador was built on the site of the Great Mosque of Albayzin. The Society for the Return of Islam in Spain purchased the site in 1981, but it took many years for the plans to be approved. The mosque's initial funding was supplied by Shaykh 'Abdalqadir as-Sufi al-Murabit who envisioned providing Granada's new Spanish Muslim community with a mosque. Additional funding came from Malaysia, Morocco and the United Arab Emirates. In 1991 the CIE (Comunidad Islámica en España) hired the architect Renato Ramirez Sanchez to design the mosque. In the 1990s, there was a heated debate pertaining to the design of the minaret. Construction eventually began in 2001. The mosque now serves about 500 people.

The Palace of the Marqués de Salar was built in one of the most emblematic streets of Granada, the Carrera del Darro, at number 5. This place is an architectural example of the classical Granada during the Renaissance transformation of the XVIth century. It was built by the Marqués de Salar, great-grandson of both Hernán Pérez del Pulgar (known by the name of El de la Hazañas [The One of the Valiant Deeds]) and Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba (El Gran Capitán [The Great Captain]), Captain-General of the Castilian-Aragonese forces that concluded the Reconquest of the peninsula. The palace is now the museum of perfumes El Patio de los Perfumes, with 1,500 square metres (16,000 sq ft) of floor space on two floors and 130 square metres (1,400 sq ft) of patio to relax surrounded by flowers and perfumes.

Monasterio de San Jerónimo (16th-century Monastery of Saint Jerome)

San Juan de Dios Hospital (historic hospital)

Palacio de la Madraza (remains of 14th-century madrasa incorporated into 18th-century city hall)

Archaeological Museum of Granada (in the 16th-century Castril Palace)

Museo de Bellas Artes de Granada (Museum of Fine Arts)

El Bañuelo (11th or 12th-century bathhouse)

Cuisine

The gastronomy of Granada is part of the Arabic-Andalusian cuisine tradition, with a strong Arab and Jewish heritage, which is reflected in its condiments and spices, such as cumin, coriander, nutmeg, cinnamon, raisins, almonds or honey. The writer Miguel Alcobendas, author of the traditional cuisine of Granada, says that it has its origin in living together, from the thirteenth to the fifteenth century (when Granada surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs), of Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Nasrid Kingdom from Granada. Subsequently, there was a miscegenation with the kitchen of the Christians, in which pork acquired an importance in the kitchen of Granada more than in the rest of Spain, since its consumption allowed its eaters to demonstrate a certain distance from the persecuted religions, since both Muslims and Jews have it banned.

The climatic differences of the different regions of the province, from the coast to the peaks of the Sierra Nevada propitiates a great variety of raw materials: vegetables, meats and sausages, and fish that are combined in a multitude of dishes and recipes for soups and stews.

The famous and reputed Trevélez ham comes from the Sierra of Granada, to which other pork derivatives are added, sausages such as chorizo, black pudding and pork tenderloin.

Ham and beans, two products of the land, are combined in one of its most typical dishes, beans with ham; Other known dishes are the Sacromonte tortilla, which among other ingredients must have cooked brains and veal crustaillas, chopped and sauteed before mixing with the egg. It is also worth mentioning "papas a lo pobre", potatoes which are usually served with egg and fried peppers, as well as with pieces of pork or ham.

Among the stews and potajes, the pot of San Antón stands out, which is eaten mainly towards the second half of January; cabbage stew, which combines vegetables and legumes; the stew of green beans and fennel; The thistle and pumpkin casserole, with noodles and aromatic herbs, or gypsy pottery are other dishes of the land.

Confectionery is well represented in the gastronomy of Granada, for sweets prepared by the nuns can be purchased in the numerous convents of the city: the pestiños of Vélez or those of the Encarnación, the puff pastries of San Jerónimo, the ovos moles of San Antón, the Zafra biscuit, sweet potato rolls, cocas, roscos from Santo Tomas and mantecados. Aljojábanas, honey and cheese dumplings and some of the fritters called almohados, as well as fig bread, Moorish roscos and an almond cake called soyá are all of Arabic heritage.

Leisure and entertainment

In Granada there is a wide program of leisure and entertainment, which covers a large number of fields, available to both visitors and citizens themselves. Of the leisure activities carried out, the following can be highlighted:

The zambras of Sacromonte. Old bridal parties held by the gypsies of the city, and that disappeared for years before their current vindication. They develop in the caves of the Sacromonte neighborhood and have a unique character in the world of flamenco. There are also more classic flamenco shows in the Albaicín. These flamenco shows, usually linked to restaurants, are one of the city's cultural attractions.

Festivals. Granada has a very complete range of events: International Music and Dance Festival, International Jazz Festival, Granada Festival South Cinemas and International Tango Festival, among others.

Concerts. Throughout the year there is a stable program of concerts in the Manuel de Falla Auditorium and theater and opera performances in the Congress Palace.

Parties. Throughout the year several parties are held on significant dates for religious, civil or cultural reasons.

Parks and gardens

The city of Granada has a significant number of parks and gardens, including:

Sports

Granada has a football team:

Granada CF, in Segunda División

Granada has a basketball team:

Fundación CB Granada, in Liga ACB

Skiing:

FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 1996

Bullfighting:

Granada has a 14,507-capacity bullring named Plaza de toros de Granada.

Notable people

Ibn al-Jayyab (1274–1349), poet and vizier

al-Sahili (1290–1346), poet, Islamic scholar, architect and traveler

Ibn Juzayy (1294–1340), Maliki scholar

Ibn al-Khatib (1313–1374), poet and historian

Ibn Zamrak (1333–1393), poet and vizier

Ibn Khalaf al-Muradi (11th century), engineer and inventor

Al-Tighnari (died 1118), agronomist, botanist, poet and traveler

Abu Hamid al-Gharnati (c.1080-1170), traveler

Ibn Tufail (1105–1185), philosopher and astronomer

Judah ben Saul ibn Tibbon (1120–1190), translator and physician

Al-Zuhri (fl. 1130s–1150s), geographer

Ibn Sa'id al-Maghribi (1213–1286), geographer, historian and poet

Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati (1256–1344), quranic commentator, grammarian and traveler

Abu Ishaq al-Shatibi (1320–1388), Islamic scholar and linguist

Abu'l-Hasan ibn Ali al-Qalasadi (1412–1486), mathematician

Ibn al-Azraq (1427–1491), jurist

Aixa (fl.1492/1493), mother of Boabdil

Sport

Manuel Orantes (born 1949), tennis player

María José Rienda Contreras (born 1975), ski racer

Pablo Aguilar Bermúdez (born 1989), basketball player

Samuel Corral (born 1992), football

Lidia Redondo (born 1992), gymnast

Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (born 1993), Scotland international rugby union player (born in Granada, but moved to Scotland at age 3)

Twin towns – sister cities

Granada is twinned with: