La Axarquia is bordered in the west the Montes de Malaga, a range of medium sized
mountains covered in scrub and pine forest with a few cork oaks here and there. To
the north, north-east & east are the Sierras Camarolos, Jobo, Alhama, Tejeda and
Almijara, a range of larger "grey" mountains which rise to a peak of 2,065m at La
Maroma and form a natural border with the Granada province. The Mediterranean Sea
is the border to the south.
The 30 plus white-washed villages in La Axarquia have a very strong individual identity
with different gastronomy, land produce, music & wine and yet they are all within
an area of just 1000 square kilometres. Today life in rural Axarquia for a large
number of the local Spanish is not dramatically different than twenty or so years
ago, however a growing ex-pat community and a few European grants are forcing it
to move into at least the latter part of the 20th Century by concreting dirt tracks,
damming a few rivers and putting up a few sign posts here and there.La Axarquia is
not unlike the more familiar Las Alpujarras region of the Sierra Navada in Granada
but on a smaller scale and at a lower altitude. The wildlife, however, is relatively
safe from too much modernization as the shear sided hills, and often impenetrable
river valleys have forced farming methods to stay well and truly in the dark ages.
Fields are often still ploughed by mules, with very small plots.
