Exploring the area - Campamento España

When you’re not learning Spanish from your teachers, you can put it to use in the surrounding area on some of the group excursions. On weekends you might visit nearby destinations like Seville, Cordoba, Granada, or Marbella. Other excursions could include a trip to the Picasso Museum, walking tours, nature walks, or cathedral visits. You’ll have the opportunity to play fútbol (soccer)—which is the most popular sport in Spain—as well as volleyball and basketball. You might even get to take part in the festivities that surround fútbol matches, with fans passionately supporting the national team La Roja (“The Red One”).

*Important note: Maybe not all of these trips will be offered during your stay – they are samples and depend on the final participant’s number, weather conditions, logistics, etc.

Granada

Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of four rivers, the Beiro, the Darro, the Genil and the Monachil. The greatest artistic wealth of Granada is its Spanish-Muslim art — in particular, the compound of the Alhambra and the Generalife.

Alhambra: The Alhambra is a Nasrid “palace city” that was originally constructed as a small fortress in 889. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1984. Attached to the Alhambra, you will find the Generalife, the garden area which became a place of recreation and rest for the Granadan Muslim kings when they wanted to flee the tedium of official life in the Palace.
Royal Chapel: The Catholic Monarchs, Isabel and Fernando, chose the city of Granada as their burial site by a royal decree dated September 13, 1504.

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Córdoba

Córdoba is a city in Andalusia, southern Spain. The old town contains numerous architectural reminders of when Corduba was the capital of Hispania Ulterior during the Roman Republic and capital of Hispania Baetica during the Roman Empire. Córdoba has the second largest Old town in Europe, the largest urban area in the world declared World Heritage by UNESCO. It has been estimated that in the 10th century Córdoba was the most populous city in the world, and under the rule of Caliph Al Hakam II it had also become a centre for education under its Islamic rulers.

The Great Mosque of Cordoba: The most important building and symbol of the city, and current cathedral.
The Roman bridge: was built by the Romans in the early 1st century BC. It currently, after the Islamic reconstruction, has 16 arcades, one less than original ones, and a total length of 247 meters. The width is around 9 meters.

Sevilla

Seville is the capital of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It is situated on the plain of the River Guadalquivir. Its Old Town, the third largest in Europe with an area of 4 square kilometres (2 sq mi), contains three UNESCO World Heritage Sites, and our students, will have the opportunity to do a private visit to all of them:

Alcazar: “If heaven really does exist, then let’s hope it looks a little bit like the inside of Seville’s Alcázar”. Built primarily in the 1300s during the so-called ‘dark ages’ in Europe, the architecture is anything but dark. It was the primary filming location for the Dorne and the Water Gardens of Game of Thrones!
Cathedral and “Giralda”: Seville’s immense cathedral, officially the biggest in the world (by volume), is awe-inspiring in its scale and sheer majesty. It stands on the site of the great 12th-century Almohad mosque, with the mosque’s minaret (the Giralda) still towering beside it.
Archive of the Indias: is the repository of extremely valuable archival documents illustrating the history of the Spanish Empire in the Americas and the Philippines.

Málaga & surroundings

Marbella: is situated on the Mediterranean Sea, between Málaga and the Gibraltar Strait, in the foothills of the Sierra Blanca. The city is especially popular with tourists from Northern Europe (including the United Kingdom, Ireland and Germany) and also Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Marbella is particularly noted for the presence of aristocrats, celebrities and wealthy people; it is a popular destination for luxury yachts, and increasingly so for cruise ships, which dock in its harbour.

Nerja: is a municipality on the Costa del Sol in the province of Málaga in southern Spain. It belongs to the comarca of La Axarquía. It is on the country’s southern Mediterranean coast, about 50 km east of Málaga. In more modern times, sugar cane production has given way to more valuable cash crops, particularly semi-tropical fruits such as mango and papaya and widespread avocado plantations in what is one of the major avocado growing regions in Europe

Frigiliana: The municipality is situated approximately 71 kilometers east of Málaga, and approximately 6 kilometers north of Nerja. It is located in the comarca of La Axarquía, the easternmost region of the province.

For four days at the end of August each year, Frigiliana hosts the Festival of the Three Cultures (Festival de las Tres Culturas), celebrating the region’s historic confluence and co-existence of Christian, Muslim and Jewish traditions.

Antequera: It is known as “the heart of Andalusia” because of its central location among Málaga, Granada, Córdoba, and Seville. It is noted for two large Bronze Age dolmens and for an amazing natural Park “El Torcal”.

Bronce Age Dolmens: burial mounds (barrows or dolmens), the Dólmen de Menga and the Dólmen de Viera, dating from the 3rd millennium BC. They are the largest such structures in Europe.
El Torcal: is a natural reserve known for its unusual landforms, and is one of the most impressive karst landscapes in Europe. The area was designated a Natural Site of National Interest in July 1929, and a Natural Park Reserve of about 17 square kilometres was created in October 1978.