RUTA 5. PAMPANEIRA CIRCULAR

About trip

Pampaneira to Bubión

Leave the hotel and go back to the ‘El Castaño’ restaurant and follow ‘Calle Real’. Turn off at the second right, ‘Calle Principe’.

At the crossroad turn right to go up the stairs and continue up to turn left into ‘Calle Real’. You will find a sign pointing to ‘Camino de Bubión’ (wp1).

Turn right and follow the path as it bends left, go on to find an informative panel about the Poqueira villages. You are following the PR-A70.

About 5 min later, continue walking on the left on the concrete path (wp2). A few meters further turn right following the sign to ‘Bubión’ on a rock through an oak forest.

After the woodland the path splits, keep left.

You will pass a fountain (wp3) and cross a ravine by bridge before arriving at Bubión. Pass the Fuente Hondera and head to the church. You can go up to village to explore from here.

Bubión to Capileira

Leave the church and the square with a water fountain on the ‘Calle Real’, after the Museum Casa Alpujarreña.

Follow this street to the outskirts of the village and head to ‘Camino del Rio-los Cortijos and Polideportivo Municipal’.

Continue ahead towards a play park and basketball court to a path junction signed (wp 4) ‘Puente del Molino’ and ‘Capileira’.

Head to Capileira and 200m further go ahead (wp 5) ignoring a path on your right. After passing a sign for ‘Alojamientos Iberos’ you will cross a small stream between a large chestnut and apple tree 20 meters further. Turn right up some stone steps to find some metal stairs, and at the end turn left. Ascend the stone steps to a path junction- follow the yellow and white path to the right.

Ignore a minor turn-off and go ahead to cross the ravine. There is a great chestnut tree some meters before the bridge. At the first houses of Capileira the path ahead has been cut off. Take the path to the left, descending to cross a stream.Turn left downhill to go on walking close to the first houses in Capileira at the botton.

You will reach ‘Fuente de la Pileta’ and then, go on to turn left into ‘Calle Escuelas’. Follow to ‘Museo Pedro Antonio de Alarcón’ and ‘Calle Manuel de Mendoza’ to the church. from here you can go up the street to explore village.

Follow the street to the left and turn right after the church (Calle Campanas) to find the ‘Fuente del Cerezo’.

Fuente de los Cerezos to Pampaneira

After the fountain take the first turn right, and again right passing a house signed as ‘AM Cerezo 18’ go on to find the paved road descending. You will find an informative panel and some signs (wp 7).

Follow the path to ‘Puente Chiscal’ and go left downhill and again left when the path forks before arriving at the ‘Puente Chiscal’. You have walked 4 km from the hotel now.

100m after crossing the Poqueira River, go on to the left through a gate. Ignore a footpath on the right and continue (wp 8).

You will come to a T-junction (wp 9) with a large sign painted on a rock ‘PUENTE MOLINO BUBION’ and also a wooden signpost. Go left following PRA-70 ‘Puento del Molino 2KM’.

After nearly 200m cross a gate (wp10), into the Haza Redonda ravine, and reach another gate (wp 11). You can see the three villages high on the other side of the river from here. You will come across an old house and a PR yellow and white post (wp 12).

Follow the signs and in less than 100m further you will reach an informative panel about the Chestnut tells us the importance of this tree in the Alpujarra along the centuries (the path can often be wet here). Open another gate and stay left before crossing the Pradillos ravine.

In less than 300m you will find an old threshing floor (wp13). The path now zigzags downwards and passes two old houses, in ruins.

Cross another gate to find a path junction: the PR yellow-white goes left downhill to Bubión, (wp 14) but you go straight ahead crossing the ravine over a little bridge and ascend; there are no signs anymore.

350m after the bridge, go ahead and 250m further go up right. Later on, you will find the ruins of an old pen for animals and then a meadow with an old farm house up on the right.

Follow the cairn piles on the meadow to find the ‘Sendero local de la Atalaya’ with green- white signs (wp 15).

After about 650m you will come to a path junction; go left (180°) (wp16) almost as if you are coming back on yourself. The path descends steeply, zigzaging to the Pqueira River to bring you down to the bridge (wp 17). Take special care on the final 200m before the bridge as the path is steep and loose in parts under foot.

Turn right after the bridge and continue on the dirt track and just before the paved road turn left to the threshing floor with a post of ‘Sendero local’.

Follow the concrete path up to the village passing Calle Moraleda water fountain. Turn right ignoring a GR7 sign and go left up (Calle el Viso) and turn left to ‘Calle Verónica’ (this unique little street has a water channel running through it). On this street you will find a bodega- boutique where you can taste local wines and a delicatessen. This street brings you to the church at the Plaza de la Libertad, with bars, terraces and an information centre (Nevadensis).

Head to the street between Bar Narciso and the Zoco Alpujarreño. Follow in the direction of ‘Pizzería El Castaño’. Go ahead to find the paved road and the hotel again.

About Capileira (582 habitants)

The origin of Capileira goes back to the time of the Godos, although some authors consider that it could be before this time. Its name derives from the Latin word capilaris that means ‘more elevated place’.

Due to its unconquerable character it was one of the last places to be conquered by the Arabs and later by the Christians. In the Nasrid period it was part of the Taha or administrative division of Poqueira. Capileira was the scene of the fights between Boabdil and his uncle El Zagal. After the fall of Granada its population continued to be Muslim until the rebellion of 1568 when the Moorish were expelled by Felipe II. Later the town was repopulated by settlers from other parts of the Kingdom.

Its old centre has been declared a Historic and Artistic Beauty Spot, in addition to having been mentioned by the Council of Europe as a model of popular architecture. The parish church was constructed in the 18th century on top of a church from 1502 which had in its time replaced the old mosque. It has a magnificent baroque altar piece of golden wood from the 17th century and a statue of the Virgen de la Cabeza which was donated by the Catholic Kings in the 15th century.

Also preserved are two public washhouses downhill from the fountains of Hondera and La Pileta, which were in use until 1965. Capileira has numerous springs of natural water in its entire district: the Ministro, Fría, the Escopeta, the Calvario, the Cerezo, the Carril and the Cubo, the Hondera and La Pileta.

In an Arab oven located in Capileira they are still cooking magnificent pieces of bread, ideal for dipping or accompanying the traditional Alpujarra’s dish, formed by potatoes “a lo pobre”, fried egg, jam, chorizo and black pudding. The hunting meat is always present in the local diet. Another of its typical recipes is ‘choto capilurrio’ and the fennel stew. Its jams are also exquisite.