Grenade

The Alhambra and Sierra Nevada, image by antonomasia of Granada

Science Park at sunset

Granada is a Spanish city and municipality, capital of the homonymous province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the central part of the Vega de Granada region, at an altitude of 680 m s. no. m., in a wide intrabetic depression formed by the Genil river and by the foothills of the highest massif in the Iberian Peninsula, Sierra Nevada, which determines its climate.

The municipality of Granada is one of the thirty-four entities that make up the Metropolitan Area of Granada, and includes the population centers of Granada, Lancha del Genil, El Fargue and Bobadilla.

The city is the seat of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla, the highest autonomous judicial body, as well as the University of Granada (UGR), the Archdiocese of Granada, the Superior Police Headquarters of Eastern Andalusia and the Training and Doctrine Command of the Land Army of the Spanish Armed Forces.

In 2019 it had a population of 232,462 people, of whom 124,907 were women and 107,555 men. The neighborhoods it has are very different from each other, partly due to the diversity of coexisting cultures and religions and, the XX century, due to the continuous immigration that took place until the 1990s in the context of de-ruralization; the most important are Zaidín, La Chana, Centro-Sagrario, Realejo, Albaicín, Sacromonte and La Cartuja.

Muslim Granada was the capital of the Zirí kingdom of Granada, during the XI century, and of the Nasrid kingdom of Granada between the 13th century and centuries XV. After the capture of the city by the Catholic Monarchs, it remained the capital of the Castilian kingdom of Granada, which was already a simple territorial jurisdiction and which was maintained until 1833, when a new provincial division took place in Spain, still in force. Its municipal coat of arms bears the titles of "Very noble, loyal, named great, famous and heroic city of Granada".

Granada constitutes a receiving nucleus of tourism, due to its monuments and the proximity of the Sierra Nevada ski resort, as well as the historic area known as La Alpujarra and also the part of the Mediterranean known as the Granada Coast. Among its historical buildings, the Alhambra is one of the most important monuments in the country, declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1984, along with the Generalife garden and the Albaicín. Its cathedral is considered the first Renaissance church in Spain; attached to the cathedral is the Royal Chapel, which houses the tombs of the Catholic Monarchs, Isabella I of Castilla and Fernando II of Aragon, as well as Queen Juana I of Castilla "la Loca" and King Felipe I of Castile, "the Beautiful".

Granada's cultural offer includes some twenty museums, among which stand out the Granada Science Park and the Granada Museum of Fine Arts, considered the oldest provincial art gallery in the country. In addition, the city houses the headquarters of the Manuel de Falla Archive and the Federico García Lorca Center. On the other hand, the city belongs since 2014 to the Unesco Network of Creative Cities as a City of Literature, being the first Spanish-speaking city to obtain this designation.

The University of Granada is one of the most popular destinations for European university students from the Erasmus program. In this area, the University of Granada is coordinator of the ARQUS European University Alliance project, being since 2019 one of the eleven Spanish universities selected to be part of the European supercampus framed in this program.

To the south of the city is the Health Sciences Technology Park (PTS), a complex that, in addition to housing the largest hospital in the province —the San Cecilio Clinical University Hospital—, also brings together research centers, university faculties and industry in the area of biomedical research.

As for public transport, the municipality has a light metro system: the Granada Metro, which crosses the city and connects it with the main surrounding municipalities, from Albolote to Armilla; and with an airport. In addition, it is connected through the Spanish High Speed, through the Antequera-Granada line.

Toponymy

In the 11th century the Zirids moved the capital from Medina Elvira ("Elvira City") to Medina Garnata. The etymology of the place name is disputed and could come from both Arabic (Gar-anat, "Hill of pilgrims") and Latin (granatum , "pomegranate tree").

Under present-day Granada are the ruins of the Iberian city of Ilíberis or Iliberri, a name that has been compared to other Basque cities such as Ilunberri (present-day Lumbier, Navarre) and Elimberris (present-day Auch, Gascony).

Symbols

The symbols corresponding to the municipality of Granada are made official in the Resolution of February 10, 2009 of the General Directorate of Local Administration, by which the inscription in the Andalusian Registry of Local Entities of the Coat of Arms and the Flag of the Municipality of Granada (File number 003/2009/SIM) BOJA number 36 February 23, 2009:

Shield

General view of the Albaicín district, east of the city

His coat of arms was granted to him by the Catholic Monarchs shortly after taking the city. In the past, it was made up of two quarters where the Catholic Monarchs and the fruit of the Punica granatum, popularly known as pomegranate, were represented, but in 1843 Queen Elizabeth II added a third one with the Torre de la Vela, added to a national flag, along with their new titles, represented in the gold ribbon that surrounds it. With this she wanted to reward the attitude of the people of Granada in the uprising in favor of her and against the regent. In the local document it is defined as follows:

The current official shield of the city of Granada, is covered by the Royal Crown, bent with a ribbon ripped in its lower part by a gold foil, in which the titles of the city are recorded in equal metal, and its interior is divided into three barracks, which occupies its upper half with the Catholic Kings sitting on its thrones, with crown and mantle, in its natural colors, the King Fernando V to the right, The lower part is divided into two barracks, the one on the left with the Torre de la Vela in silver, tremolándose on its top the flag of Spain, red and yellow, on the back of gold. At the lower left quarter, there is an open grenade in its natural colours, on the silver background. Everything is surrounded by two castles in the center of its upper and lower part of the orla, in silver, with two flags of red and yellow Spain on top of each and diagonal, on the back of gold; altering to its sides with a total of six lions in its natural colors and turned to the interior, with four golden towers on red background.

The flag of Granada during the procession of Corpus Christi

However, in 1994 in the work by David Torres Ibáñez La Heráldica de la Diputación Provincial de Granada. Studies, antecedents and proposals is cited in the manner in which it has been registered in the Registry of symbols of local entities, presenting some variations.

Part and half cut. First, in the silver field the figures of the Catholic Kings sitting on their thrones, with crown and mantle, in their natural colors, King Fernando V on the right with a sword in the right hand and Queen Elizabeth I with a sceptre in hers, covered by a red canopy. The second gold with the Torre de la Vela mazonada de plata, added a Spanish flag of gules and gold. The third silver a grenade to the natural, streak of gules, sustained, carved and leafed of two siple leaves. Bordura of twelve composes altering Leon and Castile, composed of the chief and the tip with the castles added by two flags of gules. The shield is bent with a gold ribbon with the titles it possesses: very noble, very loyal, named, great, celebérrima and heroic city of Granada, and finished in its lower part by a gold foil. It is sown with the royal crown.

Flag

The flag of the city of Granada has the following description:

It is made up of two equal vertical stripes; the first, next to the mast, of a chrome red colour, and the second strip of green colour. In the center, and in overlay embroidery, the shield of the city of Granada.

View of Granada with Sierra Nevada to the background from the Acera del Darro

It has been in force since it was approved by the Granada City Council in a plenary session on September 6, 1983.

Hymn

The City Council in plenary session of the city, accepting the opinion of the Honors and Distinctions Commission, in a session dated September 4, 1997, unanimously agreed, at the proposal of its President, Sebastián Jesús Pérez Ortiz, to establish as an Anthem Official of the City of Granada the version adapted by Professor Luis Megías Castilla of the song "Granada" by Agustín Lara. This is stated on the official website of this corporation.

Geography

Situation of the city of Granada regarding the Vega de Granada

The municipal area is located in the easternmost part of the Granada depression, in contact with the foothills of the Sierra Nevada (formation of about 87.8 km²). It is represented in the sheets 1009, 1010, 1026 and 1027 of the National Topographic Map. The depression is strategically located in the Intrabetic Furrow. In this way, from the Iznalloz corridor you have access to the Despeñaperros gorge, which connects the region of Andalusia with the center of the Iberian Peninsula; from Valle de Lecrín it has access to the Granada coast; through Puerto de la Mora it has access to the Hoyas de Guadix and Baza and therefore to Almería and Murcia; and finally, from the Loja corridor you have access to Malaga.

Northwest: Atarfe	North: Maracena, Pulianas, Jun and Víznar	Northeast: Huétor Santillán and Beas de Granada
West: Santa Fe y Vegas del Genil		This: Dúdar
Southwest: Churriana de la Vega y Armilla	South: Oegjares, La Zubia, Huétor Vega and Cenes de la Vega	Sureste: Genil Pines

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Interactive map — Grenada and its municipality

Relief

The relief of the municipality is marked by its location on the eastern edge of the Granada depression. The mountains of Huétor, Arana and Nevada act as the head of this sedimentary basin.

The genesis of this relief dates back to the alpine folding, in which the sediments deposited in a large oceanic trench that occupied what are now the Betic Systems were folded. The depression arose from the collapse of various blocks due to the effect of the faults that completely surround it and the greater density of the materials that compose it with respect to the surrounding mountainous areas. This substratum was gradually clogged throughout the Tertiary and Quaternary by sediments eroded from the young ridges created during the Alpine folding.

Relieve of the municipality

One of its most characteristic and emblematic reliefs is the so-called Alhambra Formation or Conglomerate, made up of very thick detrital sediments linked to alluvial fans. The intense fluvial erosion during the Pliocene caused the abrupt deposit of materials, forming mountains of conglomerates up to 300 meters thick, characterized by the thickness and disorder of their edges due to the speed and intensity of erosion.

Already during the Quaternary, these piedmont formations eroded again and were morphologically configured by the hydrographic network, producing the current landscape. In some cases, the action of the rivers has allowed the excavation of deep canyons, showing the different strata of conglomerates, as occurs in the Barranco de los Negros.

Finally, the hydrographic network, hierarchical by the Genil River, has modeled and outlined a large sedimentation plain, formed by detrital materials where sand, silt and clay predominate, depending on the proximity to the center of the basin. This alluvial plain is very rich from the point of view of agriculture and, together with the gold deposits linked to the Darro and Genil rivers, caused its rapid population.

Hydrography

Hydrographic map of the municipality of Granada

Due to the intense runoff input from the surrounding mountainous areas, low rainfall does not translate into water scarcity. The head of the Genil river is formed by a kind of mountainous amphitheater made up of Sierra Nevada and Sierra de Arana. The Genil and its tributaries on the left bank, the Monachil and the Dílar, fan out from Sierra Nevada. To the north, the amphitheater continues with the Sierra de Arana, where the Beiro and Darro rivers are born to flow into the Genil, whose channels are embedded due to the proximity of the Sierra Nevada and its seismic activity. This narrowness is also manifested in the ravines caused by extinct river currents by filtration or catchment.

Therefore, the municipality is fully integrated into the Genil river basin, a subsidiary of the Guadalquivir river basin. The Granada hydrographic network is made up of, together with the Genil, the Darro, Beiro, Monachil and Dílar rivers, among other hydrographic networks.

• The Genil, with 358 km in length, is the second longest river that runs entirely through Andalusia, behind the Guadalquivir, which is the main tributary. It is born on the north side of the peak of the Mulhacén and its waters are captured for irrigation when entering Granada through the hydraulic system established during its Muslim period. Go through the urban center following the east-west direction.

The river Genil at its pass through Granada, seen from the Paseo del Salón

• El Darro is born in the Sierra de la Alfaguara and then enters the municipality of Granada, where it flows with the rivers of Colmenar and Beas. It is the main supplier of the Alhambra. Surca the municipality from North to South and then flows westward through the area of Jesus del Valle. It flows into the Genil within the urban hull.
• The Beiro, from Sierra Arana, runs under the urban centre from north to west. On the surface, it enters the region of La Vega, where it flows to the Genil.
• The Monachil is born in Sierra Nevada and has a continuous course throughout the year. It is one of the main tributaries of the high course of the Genil, within that municipal term.
• The Dilar is also affluent of the Genil and is also born in Sierra Nevada, enters the Granada municipality by Purchil.
• Acequias form an artificial hydrographic network of great complexity, which originates in the Muslim era. The main ones are Tarramonta, Arabuleila, Aynadamar, Real de la Alhambra y Gorda del Genil.

Hydric contributions from the subsoil are also important, since the detrital basin allows the filtration of water and the formation of aquifers. The water table is often very close to the surface and natural springs and surgeries occur in areas close to the river bed. However, the quality of the water is declining due to the large contributions of nitrates resulting from the important agricultural activity that is leached into the aquifer with irrigation and rainwater.

Climate

La Chana district in winter

According to the Köppen climate classification, Grenada's climate is transitional between a Mediterranean climate (Csa) and a cold semi-arid climate (BSk). Other sources describe the climate of Granada as continental Mediterranean, differentiating it from the typical Mediterranean climate due to the altitude and the relative distance from the coast, which causes a greater annual thermal amplitude. The climate is cool in winter, with frequent frosts, and hot in summer, with highs above 35 °C. The thermal oscillation is great throughout the year, many times exceeding 20 °C in one day. The rains are really scarce in summer; They are concentrated in winter and are generally of little importance during the rest of the year. These peculiar characteristics, which are more evident if we compare them with the climate of the Granada coast, just 50 km from the capital Granada, are due to its location between mountain ranges, and its average altitude of about 685 m s. no. m.

In 2007 it was the fourth sunniest city in Spain, with 3,016 hours of sunshine, according to the data available to the National Institute of Statistics, collected in its statistical yearbook.

Average climatic parameters of the Armilla Air Base Observatory (Churriana de la Vega municipality) (687 m. n. m.) (Reference period: 1981-2010)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	22.1	25.7	28.6	30.8	38.6	40.0	42.1	41.2	39.4	35.2	27.0	24.8	42.1
Average temperature (°C)	12.6	14.6	18.0	19.5	24.0	30.2	34.2	33.5	28.7	22.6	16.5	13.1	22.3
Average temperature (°C)	6.8	8.5	11.4	13.1	17.1	22.5	26.0	25.5	21.6	16.3	10.9	7.9	15.7
Temp. medium (°C)	1.1	2.4	4.8	6.8	10.2	14.7	17.7	17.6	14.4	10.1	5.3	2.7	9.0
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-12.6	-5.5	-6.4	-1.9	1.6	6.5	9.8	9.4	5.2	1.4	-4.4	-7.2	-12.6
Total precipitation (mm)	40.6	33.0	34.7	37.1	29.8	11.2	1.9	3.4	22.6	37.8	50.2	50.2	352.5
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	5.8	5.6	5.1	6.3	4.7	1.7	0.3	0.6	2.7	5.1	6.7	7.2	51.9
Days of snow (≥)	0.7	0.5	0.2	0.1	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.3	2.0
Hours of sun	170	172	219	234	280	331	362	330	254	211	165	148	2881
Relative humidity (%)	72	68	60	57	51	43	37	41	51	62	71	75	57
Source: State Meteorology Agency

Average climatic parameters of the Granada Airport Observatory (Chauchina municipality) (567 m. n. m.) (Reference period: 1981-2010)
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Temp. max. abs. (°C)	21.6	26.2	30.0	31.2	38.4	42.6	45.7	41.8	40.2	33.5	26.8	24.5	45.7
Average temperature (°C)	13.0	15.4	19.0	20.6	25.0	31.0	34.8	34.2	29.4	23.2	17.0	13.4	23.0
Average temperature (°C)	6.5	8.5	11.4	13.3	17.2	22.3	25.3	24.8	21.1	16.0	10.6	7.6	15.4
Temp. medium (°C)	0.0	1.6	3.8	6.0	9.4	13.6	15.7	15.5	12.8	8.7	4.2	1.7	7.8
Temp. min. abs. (°C)	-14.2	-7.4	-7.6	-2.6	-0.2	5.4	6.4	8.0	3.6	-1.8	-6.4	-8.4	-14.2
Total precipitation (mm)	41.6	37.7	32.4	36.3	28.5	11.2	2.4	3.5	19.4	39.9	54.1	56.2	364.3
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	5.6	5.9	4.9	6.2	4.2	1.7	0.3	0.6	2.8	5.0	6.8	7.4	52.1
Days of snow (≥)	0.7	0.3	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.1	0.1	1.0
Hours of sun	168	175	223	234	288	338	372	341	258	211	163	146	2917
Relative humidity (%)	74	67	58	56	52	42	35	37	48	63	72	76	57
Source: State Meteorology Agency

Its average temperature is 15.7 °C, which is about 3 °C different from the areas of the lower Guadalquivir and Mediterranean coast. Regarding the thermal regime, winter is cold and lasts during the months of December to February with less than 10 °C on average, with January being the coldest month with 6.7 °C. Summer is a long season with an average of approximately three heat waves per year, with average temperatures above 20°C during the months of June to September. The warmest month is July with an average temperature of 34.4 °C.

La Carrera de la Virgen, next to La Patrona, in summer

The coldest and warmest months occur at the beginning of the seasons as a result of the distance from the sea and its thermal smoothing action, further impeded by the barrier effect of the mountain ranges. The short duration and representativeness of the equinoctial seasons is another feature of the continentality of its climate.

Regarding the extreme temperatures, it is worth noting the importance of the frosts that it suffers, becoming quite late, which is a serious limitation for some crops.

Precipitations

The general features of its rainfall are the low annual amount —357 mm— and its great interannual irregularity that causes many periods of drought. Regarding the rainfall regime, the main characteristic is the summer drought, typical of all Mediterranean climates, which lasts abruptly during the months of July and August, when rainfall is less than 5 mm. These months coincide with those with the highest temperatures, until September, when this dynamic of extreme dryness breaks with the rainfall associated with the storms at the end of summer, which also sweeten the temperatures.

Due to the singularity of the continental Mediterranean climate due to the lengthening of rainfall from October to May, the double Mediterranean and Atlantic influence cause an equinoctial maximum —December with 53 mm— of a Mediterranean component and a winter maximum —January with 41 mm — Atlantic component. In spite of everything, the precipitations are fairly regular throughout this period, although the volume is not comparable with the areas of the lower Guadalquivir open to oceanic air masses.

Flora and fauna

Parque Federico García Lorca, in the neighborhood of Camino de Ronda

Flora

Granada preserves in the Dehesas del Generalife peri-urban park, where the so-called Llano de la Perdiz, the Generalife meadow and the Jesús del Valle mountains are located, the last redoubt of its original Mediterranean-type flora with a total area of 458 protected hectares. Along with repopulated pine forests, holm oaks appear along with their border of meso- and supra-Mediterranean species and an interesting example of gall oak on the slopes of the Darro river.

Granada parks, gardens and cármenes have an interesting flora of ornamental varieties where the botanical garden, active since 1873, carries out important conservation and dissemination work. The plant communities of the forests near the Alhambra managed by the Board of the Alhambra have a rich diversity estimated at more than 300 species, many of them of great historical interest as representatives of the cultivars present in the nearby ancient orchards.

Fauna

The main fauna values of the city are concentrated in the eastern part of its municipal area, where the Dehesas del Generalife peri-urban park represents the last semi-natural area of the municipality. The fauna present stands out for a rich birdlife from the nearby Sierra Nevada, apart from birds typical of urban spaces. This fauna also extends to the forests near the Alhambra which, despite the pressure of tourism, have developed into a very rich ecosystem.

Thus, the presence of passerines such as the blackcap, wren or robin, or falconiforms such as the lesser kestrel, which breeds in the area, or the goshawk is not uncommon in these areas. Regarding mammals, together with common species in parks and gardens such as squirrels or mice, hedgehogs and voles appear, species more typical of natural areas and it is even possible to observe foxes, wild boars or ibex from the mountains.

History

Old Age

Remains of the wall of the Albaicín

The oldest remains that have been excavated in the city of Granada date back to the middle of the s. VII a. C. and correspond to rooms belonging to an Iberian oppidum called Ilturir.

There is no record of settlements prior to this time, although there were important towns nearby, such as the Argaric settlement of Cerro de la Encina, in Monachil, some 7 km to the east, which was abandoned towards the year 1200 a. c.; or the one from the end of the Bronze Age, from Cerro de los Infantes, in Pinos Puente, about 10 km to the west, dated between 800 B.C. C. and 700 B.C. C. and that, later, continued to be a town with the name of Ilurco. Ilturir occupied about 5 ha on the top of the hill of San Nicolás, on the right bank of the Darro river, just where the Genil river valley enters. It was surrounded by a wall that, in the s. VI a. C., was expanded as a consequence of population growth. In the IV or III century a. C., came to be known by the name of Iliberri and was included in the area controlled by the Bastetanos and, from a more economic than military perspective, by the Carthaginians.

The final defeat of Carthage in the Second Punic War opened the gates of the city to the Romans. Some authors indicate, based on Tito Livio, that the troops of Emilio Paulo were defeated in Ilurco, around the year 190 BC. C., before Tiberio Sempronio Graco conquered the entire area, around 180 BC. C. However, it seems rather that the submission to Rome occurred as a result of a pact or agreement. Ilíberis, included in Hispania Ulterior, obtained the title of municipality from César, with the name of Municipium Florentinum Iliberitanum, of so that the Roman sources of the following centuries almost always cite it as Florentia. Later it was included in Baetica and, finally, around the I century, incorporated into the Conventus Astigitanus.

Nasrid palace window

For some authors, it was a city of great importance. However, archaeological excavations have not validated its character as an important city, which gave three senators and a consul to Rome, as well as being the seat of a Christian Council, around the year 304. In any case, it must have been ruined at some point in the High Middle Ages, since at the beginning of the VIII century, the site was uninhabited.

Middle Ages

At least from the time of the creation of the Emirate of Córdoba and until the fall of the Caliphate, that is, between the VIII centuries< /span> and XI, the site of the current city of Granada was uninhabited, remaining only the remains of the oppidum Iberian, used as a fortress (hisn) at the time of the muladíes rebellion ( century) IX). Some authors consider that some small nucleus or farmhouse could have subsisted around Hisn Garnata, the name by which ancient Ilíberis was known in Muslim times. In any case, the important city in the period 712 -1012, it was the neighboring Madínat Ilbira, some 10 km to the west, which became the capital of the Cora de Elvira and one of the most important cities of al-Andalus.

The turbulence that led to the formation of the Taifa Kingdoms gave the throne of Granada to the Zirids. The first of them, Zawi ben Ziri, founded the new city of Madínat Garnata in 1013, around the existing castle, leaving Medina Elvira, which was depopulated around 1020, and ruined. From then on, Muslim Granada had three clear phases of evolution:

The surrender of Grenada by Francisco Pradilla: Boabdil in front of the Catholic Kings

• Epoca zirí.- The area initially occupied, in an intensive way, is located in the centre of the current Albaicín district, known as Alcazaba Cadima (Alcazaba Cadima).al-Qasba Qadima). By the end of the centuryXI, it was already urbanized most of the hill, surrounded by a wall that still subsists to a large extent partially embedded in the urban hamlet. The ziri city had an extension 75 ha and some 4400 houses distributed in several neighborhoods located on the hill of Albaicín.

• Epoca Berber.- The urban structure of the city was changed sparsely in the long period of domination of the Almoravids and Almohads (1090-1269). From the analysis made by various Arab sources, it follows that the walled enclosure was expanded in the Almoravide period, opening doors like the Arc de las Pesas and Bib-Albunaida (Puerta Monaita), both still standing; also corresponds to this time the disappeared Bib-Alfajjarinor the Alfareros, and the castle known as Torres Bermejas. The Almohads left buildings of interest, such as the Alcázar Genil, and walled the eastern suburbs, where today is the Realejo neighborhood.

• Nasrid era. The creation of the Kingdom of Granada prompted the growth and wealth of the city, rebuking the basils of the Albaicín and raising the palatial city of the Alhambra. Its construction began by King Alhamar, taking advantage of the existence of an ancient ziri fortress. His son, Muhámmad II, erected most of the palatial areas, and for the beginning of the centuryXIV There was already a medina, with shops, private homes and community buildings. The Royal Mosquemegit sultani) was built by Muhámmad III and, by then, Madinat al-Hamra It was already a real urban center. The Nasrid city was organized in six walled districts, connected to each other by doors that were closed during the night, and each of them divided into neighborhoods of different sizes and character.

Church of Santo Domingo

The city will remain with this structure after the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs in 1492, although the eleven years that followed the delivery of the city generated changes that would end up significantly modifying its character.

The transition from the Nasrid kingdom to Castile

Despite the fact that, in 1491, a powerful Castilian army, which had already subjugated almost all the Nasrid territory in the previous four years, penetrated the Vega de Granada and laid siege to the city, it did not fall as a consequence of a confrontation between both armies, but through a negotiation process that culminated on November 25 of that same year, with the signing in Santa Fe of the corresponding Capitulaciones, in which a period of two months for the delivery of the city, although that term was not finally exhausted and the surrender took place on January 2, 1492. The capitulations were very generous for the people of Granada: they could continue to practice their religion freely and publicly, their properties would be respected and the validity of Islamic law would be maintained in disputes between Muslims, creating the figure of mixed judges when dealing with disputes with Christians. A "Muslim council" was also created, and tax exemptions were provided for three years. In addition, the kings appointed Hernando de Talavera as the first archbishop of Granada, Queen Isabella's confessor and a moderate man who highly esteemed the moral quality of the vanquished. However, when the Court temporarily settled in Granada in 1499, many They were scandalized by the survival of Islam and by the fact that the population attended the mosques en masse. The queen's new confessor, Fray Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros, Archbishop of Toledo, began a harsh campaign of forced conversions, with confiscation and burning of books, imprisonment of alfaquíes, and inquisitorial proceedings. Massive conversions were carried out, although this did not reduce the pressure on the population of Granada, as reported by Diego Hurtado de Mendoza in the first third of the XVI century , "the new Christians, people without a language and without favor, shrunken and shown to serve, saw the farms they had owned, bought or inherited from their grandparents condemned, taken away or divided, without being heard." It generated serious riots in the Albaicín, especially after the conversion by Cisneros of mosques into churches, which spread to other areas of the kingdom, and which were bloodily repressed (1499-1501). The Catholic Monarchs took advantage of these events to declare the Capitulations void and order a first expulsion of the Moors and the confinement of the rest in a ghetto located in Bib-Rambla. By 1519, Martín Fernández de Enciso would comment that "Granada was a great town in time of Moors and now it is not so much".

The Royal Chapel, one of the main works of the Gothic granadino

Modern Age

During the War of the Communities of Castile, Granada remained faithful to Carlos I at all times and the Marquis of Mondéjar, from his position as Captain General, was in charge of dominating the situation in case of any eventuality. However, the city did not send its deputies to the La Rambla league, an assembly designed to prevent the community movement from penetrating Andalusia. At first, certainly, it requested a postponement of the meetings to agree on the issue with the rest of the towns under his jurisdiction, but due to the unwillingness shown by Seville and Córdoba for his approach, he ended up refusing to send deputies. It was therefore a matter of honor regarding its own entity as a cohesive jurisdiction.

All the travelers and scholars who visited Granada at the turn of the century (from the XV to the XVI), showed admiration for its buildings, especially Queen Juana and King Carlos I, who invested large sums in the maintenance and repair of the Alhambra and from other buildings of interest, which facilitated the survival of this architecture. the Muslim city: The Royal Chapel, by means of a certificate of 1504, in which the bodies of Kings Isabel and Fernando were deposited, in 1521; the Royal Hospital, begun in 1511; the cathedral, raised in 1523; the palace of Carlos V, in the heart of the Alhambra, agreed by the emperor in 1526; the Chancery, begun in 1531; etc.

Granada in the second half of the centuryXVI (Civitates orbis terrarum)

Its clearly Muslim character soon generated animosity towards its urban aspect, and the Castilian authorities began to consider themselves obliged to transform it to solve the supposed problems derived from that situation. Thus, in 1565, Felipe II came to describe the Albaicín as "dangerous" on numerous occasions, and gave instructions in this regard to the local magistrate. This desire to eradicate Islam from the new city led to the demolition of the main mosques: Ibn Gimara in 1521, that of Antequeruela in 1540, that of the Alhambra in 1576... or transforming them into Christian churches. At the same time, there was a "Hispanicization" of the urban fabric, widening streets, eliminating cemeteries and founding convents. Large squares were opened or reformed at the same time: Bib-Rambla, Campo del Príncipe (1513), Plaza Nueva (formerly Hatabin, 1515)... Bernard Vincent indicates that "in the 16th century, Granada was a city under construction », in accordance with a vast program of change, promoted by the monarchy of the Habsburgs.

Statue of Isabella Catholic receiving Christopher Columbus

Initially, the Albaicín was left out of this transformation policy, but as a consequence of the uprising of the Moors (1568), which was started from the heart of the neighborhood, the population was expelled en masse and, with it, It produced the abandonment of houses, shops and other buildings, with which the neighborhood entered an accelerated process of ruin (aggravated by the robbery of the troops and the strong storms of 1580), which made it exceed the 30,000 inhabitants of 1560 to the barely 5,000 registered in the census in 1620. It was precisely in the XVII century when the Albaicín acquired the traditional image that has lasted until today, with cármenes, orchards and sparse habitat.

After this time of great changes, the city has not undergone major changes in its image and structure since the mid-XVI century until the middle of the XIX. This is explained by the sharp decline it suffered in the first half of this period, both economically and socially, unable to make up for the loss caused by Castilianization (which affected activities such as silk, or irrigated crops) and the expulsion of the Moors, in addition to a long series of natural catastrophes (floods, earthquakes, etc.) and epidemics, especially typhus. Thus, the population fell from almost 70,000 inhabitants calculated for the first third of the XVI century, to just 39,000 from the 1718 census.

Plano de Granada traced by Ambrosio de Vico towards 1613, recorded by Félix Prieto in 1795

Throughout the XVII century a series of riots and «subsistence riots» originated due to its poor situation the most serious being those of 1648. Both the census and the economy recovered during the XVIII century, basically as a consequence of a sharp decrease in the mortality rate and by immigration from the rest of Spain, which is manifested in its important baroque legacy, reaching more than 50,000 inhabitants around 1752, according to the Catastro de Ensenada, This figure will remain stable for a long time. As a consequence, in the last half of the XVIII century important urban works were carried out: the Paseo de la Bomba and the Salón, the Paseo del Violón, all of them next to the Genil river and the Triunfo bullring (1768). There were also demolitions of emblematic buildings, such as the Bibataubín castle, or the Royal Gate itself (1790).

Contemporary Age

CenturyXIX

Aerial view of Granada in L' Espagne a vol d'oiseau of Alfred Guesdon (middle centuryXIX)

The turn of the XIX century found a sacred, conventual and bureaucratic city, seat of the Royal Chancellery, with a University and a large military establishment, which meant the temporary stay of many people, promoting the service sector, commerce and crafts. In addition, the agricultural productivity of its plain had made it one of the cities with the highest income in Spain. In fact, Granada was then the third capital in votes to the Cortes. The clergy, especially the regular clergy, had a great economic weight in the city, partly due to his large possessions, partly due to his activities, which included running several hostelries. The urban structure continued to maintain a medieval character, at least in the intramural neighborhoods, and a good part of the houses from the Muslim period were still preserved, which made it a picturesque but unhealthy city. By the end of the 18th century there had been a great development of the complementary industries of silk, linen and linen cultivation. hemp that produced strong economic growth. But already at the beginning of the new century, this market began to decrease, partly as a consequence of Spain's alliance with France in its war against England and the subsequent defeat of the Franco-Spanish army at the Battle of Trafalgar (1805), which ended for closing the English market, the main destination for yarns from Granada.

Instituto Padre Suárez (1918)

On January 28, 1810, French troops led by General Sebastiani occupied Granada, remaining there until September 16, 1812. This brief period was a serious economic burden, due to the innumerable fortification works that Sebastiani, first, and Leval, later, they did in the surroundings of the Alhambra and the Castle of Santa Elena. They also developed some urban works such as the landscaping of the Paseo del Salón and the Bomba and the Verde bridge over the Genil river, located at the end of those, although to raise this they topped the tower of the Monastery of San Jerónimo, in addition to finishing and inaugurating the Theater of Napoleon (later, Cervantes). Before leaving the city, they destroyed several towers of the Alhambra walls and other buildings that had military use.

The entire first half of the 19th century was a time of economic decline, demographic stagnation, and deterioration of urban settlements, which which aggravated endemic sanitation problems. Added to this was the loss of political and bureaucratic weight (for example, the Chancery loses its status as such and becomes a Court, which covers only four provinces). The successive confiscations did not contribute to improving the situation, promoting, on the contrary, a process of destruction of the historical heritage of proportions hitherto unknown. From the reign of Isabel II the objective of the institutions was the modernization of the city, the improvement of its health conditions and renovation of the farmhouse. The unexpected economic boom that in the last decades of the XIX century brought about the sugar industry in Granada thanks to the use of sugar beets, the first of which it was installed in 1868, together with the incorporation of Granada into the railway network, they facilitated this work by promoting trade and opening new streets with a modern format: vaulted over the Darro river, thus creating Reyes Católicos street; opening of the Gran Vía de Colón (demolishing numerous buildings of Muslim origin, including the Cetti Meriem palace); demolition of the old Zacatín, etc. Thus, Granada acquired a bourgeois and modernized image, although at the cost of diminishing its heritage. Professor Gaya Nuño said that "Granada was one of the two cities in Spain that had suffered the most losses in its historical heritage, along with Zaragoza".

Building on the Great Way

CenturyXX.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Granada was situated in a good social and economic position within Spain, with an economy growing based mainly on beets and with significant industrialization prospects. This process was maintained, at least, during the first third of the century. Population growth accelerated from 1900 (75,900 inhabitants, in that census, 103,368 in the 1920 census, 155,405, in 1940); doubling the population in a few years, both in the city and in the towns around it. This process was parallel to the development of regenerationist currents, although based on a corseted political structure, strongly cacique and incapable of taking advantage of all these factors, controlled by a not very permeable group of representatives in Cortes basically made up of landowners and some professionals, especially university professors and lawyers. The city was known during the Restoration period for the unhealthy municipal waters.

During this period, parties such as the PSOE and the Autonomous Republican Party of Granada (PRAG) managed to unite an important part of the population that would be decisive in the municipal elections of April 12, 1931, jointly winning 30 of the 45 disputed posts. In the first period of the Second Republic, the city was governed by autonomous socialists and republicans, although these disintegrated as a party in 1932. Part of them joined the Radical Party, which grew in votes until it equaled the socialists in 1933. This period (1931-1933) was socially conflictive in the city, with numerous riots and street clashes carried out especially by workers of the sugar sector that was very active. The conservative positions of Acción Popular and the Right-wing Union that, after winning the general elections together with the radicals, governed the city council through a Management Commission after dismissing the previous corporation in full. In the period 1933-1936 the Radical Party practically disappeared in Granada and social conflict grew; However, that year's elections, initially, were won again by the right, although with such a large number of irregularities that the socialist protests modified the results.

On July 20, 1936, elements involved in the military conspiracy against the Republic rose up and took control of the city. The Albaicín neighborhood managed to resist the rebel military for several days, but the resistance ceased on July 23. The outbreak of the civil war left Granada as an isolated rebellious area between areas controlled by the Republican government, which gave rise, especially in the first months, to a large number of arrests and political executions (García Lorca among them): 3,969 people were shot between 1936 and 1956 on the walls of the Granada cemetery. to the mayor's office of Antonio Gallego Burín, which meant the refurbishment of a large number of buildings and areas of the city, but also the disappearance of entire neighborhoods, such as La Manigua, where the current Ángel Ganivet street was opened.

Royal Gate, downtown

A good part of the social conflict of the republican period was caused by the strong economic crisis that, in Granada, led to the fall of the sugar sector that came to have a particularly serious character in the city. In 1926 the first of the factories (the one in Santa Juliana) was dismantled, followed by the others until, around 1940, they ended up closing the last ones still in operation, ending an expansive cycle that no longer had an economic alternative. The serious impact of the war, added to the loss of the industrial fabric and the exclusion of Granada from the areas supported by the National Industry Protection Law of 1939, caused the city to stagnate economically and regress in its demography, especially as a consequence of emigration, leaving behind the development that took place in Spain from the late 1950s. In the postwar period, Granada fell in the income indexes to the last places in the country and was basically established as a bureaucratic and university city. Only in the last third of the century did a powerful tertiary sector develop thanks to tourism. In any case, the development of the sixties and seventies (Spanish economic miracle (1959-1973)) will significantly modify the image of the city, which will advance on the plain and reform its internal structure, continuing somehow the politics of the last century, demolishing old houses to widen the streets due to the pressure of urban traffic.

On April 19, 1956, the second most important earthquake in the history of the capital occurred, known over the years as the Albolote earthquake.

Staircase of the Palacio de exposiciones y Congresos de Granada, in the Cigares district

Recent democratic phase

On April 3, 1979, the first democratic municipal elections were held throughout Spain and four political parties were represented in Granada: UCD, PSOE, PCE and PSA; None obtained enough votes to govern alone, so the PSOE, PCE and PSA allied themselves, and the municipal plenary session elected the socialist councilor Antonio Jara Andréu as mayor. The urban policy of this and subsequent municipal corporations hardly changed from the previous ones with plans aimed at "modernizing" the city as the head of a metropolitan area, the first to be considered in the community, which included 33 municipalities. However, the main objective was to solve the serious problem of communication infrastructures, both by rail and by road, which had isolated Granada since the middle of the century XX.

This isolation, decisively marked the social and productive structure, the urban culture itself of Granada that has not only been isolated, but has been felt relatively aggrieved and marginalized in the face of the increased development and investments concentrated in other parts of Andalusia.

For this reason, the gradual improvement of the infrastructures and the residence in the city of institutions of regional level have been essential. In 1989 the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia was established, with headquarters in the city of Granada, although some of its courts are located in Seville and Malaga. In the 1990s, land communications were improved by building highways with Almería, Jaén and Málaga and by facilitating exits to Madrid and Valencia. The action was completed with the conversion into a dual carriageway of the highway to the coast (A-44) that leads to the port of Motril. The character of a cultural city that Granada has always tried to consolidate was also developed. Thus, in May 1995, the Science Park was inaugurated, the first interactive museum in southern Spain. This museum allows a playful approach to scientific culture and during the school period it is visited by thousands of schoolchildren.

Panoramic Granada in 2013

Population

Population centers

In the municipality there are five nuclei or population units: Granada, Alquería del Fargue, Bobadilla, Cerrillo de Maracena and Lancha del Genil. However, in recent decades the growth of the city has allowed the Cerrillo de Maracena to be integrated into the nucleus of the city of Granada.

Demographics

According to the population register, in 2021 the municipality of Granada had 231,775 inhabitants, of whom 106,987 were men (46.15%), and 124,738 women (53.85%). This small difference in the sex ratio in favor of women occurs in the age ranges above 40 years, increasing more evidently after 60 years, according to the pyramid of population. Since the 1990s, the resident population has decreased significantly, while there has been strong demographic growth in the towns of the metropolitan belt.

Population pyramid

From the analysis of the population pyramid it can be deduced that:

• The population under 20 is 19 % of the total population.
• The population aged 20-40 is 23 %.
• The population between 40-60 years is 29 %.
• The population over 60 is 29 %.

Plaza de las Pasiegas

This structure of the population is typical of the modern demographic regime, with an evolution towards an aging population and a decrease in the annual birth rate.

Foreign population

Of the total of the 2021 register, 18,455 are of foreign nationality, which represents 7.96%, a rate lower than the national average. Resident foreigners come from all continents, the most numerous being Moroccan (4,890), Chinese (1,047), Senegalese (947), Colombian (889), Italian (854) and Bolivian (763).

Graphic of demographic evolution of Grenada between 1900 and 2021

Population of Law (1900-1991) or resident population (2001) according to population censuses of the INE.

Urbanism

The urban development of the city has been very intense throughout the XX century due to the continuous increase of the population which went from 75,570 inhabitants in the year 1900 to 244,486 in the year 2000. This increase came from natural growth and immigration, mainly from other towns in the province of Granada. This growth meant the appearance of new and extensive neighborhoods outside the historical perimeter of the city, especially as a result of the economic well-being derived from the sugar factories, between the last decades of the century XIX and the first third of the XX century, although the center of the same it maintained its intricate character, with a maze of alleyways and small urban spaces, even despite the large extensions and modernizations of this period (opening of the Gran Vía, layout of Ganivet street...), which eliminated entire historic neighborhoods. This process has meant that the current neighborhoods of the city are very different from each other in size and population.

Panoramic view from the Alhambra

Land management plans

The Plan for the planning of the territory of the urban agglomeration of Granada (POTAUG) is the main planning instrument of the Metropolitan Area and the document that establishes the bases and guidelines for urban action of the municipalities included in it. The document indicates the lands in La Vega that are protected, as well as their degree of protection. It was definitively approved at the end of 1999, with the support of the 33 affected municipalities, of all political persuasions, although various modifications have been made to its content subsequently, among which stands out the lack of protection of land in the municipality of Alhendín to give room for the Marchalhendín industrial estate.

Avenida Federico García Lorca, example of expansion in the centuryXXI

POTAUG assumes a vision with a metropolitan and not a local perspective. An example of this is the development of the Technology Park for Health and the University, which became the first metropolitan urban design in Andalusia. The main objective of the Plan was to protect the Vega of Granada as land of historical and environmental importance against the urban development policies of the different municipalities, which had facilitated the occupation of rustic land, of agricultural interest, for the construction of houses and infrastructures, such as the land where the Science Park was installed, or the ring road.

The other main urban development instrument, the General Urban Planning Plan of Granada (PGOU), has been modified since 2008, at the initiative of the City Council's own Urban Planning Management, with the following objectives:

• Adaptation to Law 7/2002 of 17 December on Urban Planning of Andalusia, according to the Second Transitional Provision of this Law.
• Collect the urban development reflection of the period of validity of the PGOU 2000.
• Complete the possible deficiencies detected with the application of PGOU 2000.
• To welcome the determinations imposed by POTAUGR and POTA regarding the structural management of the territory and linkage of uses.
• To preview new urban developments generated in response to the needs of the municipality, with special incidence in dotational soil.
• Reflect in the General Planning the new infrastructures planned.
• Provisions established within six years.

Administration and politics

El Metro de Granada a su paso por la calle San Sebastián de la Gomera, en el barrio de La Cruz. Join the metropolitan municipalities of Albolote, Maracena, the city itself of Granada and Armilla

Metropolitan Area

Its metropolitan area is made up of some fifty municipalities and the capital, although it is not yet formally constituted as a political and administrative body, although there are several public services that are jointly. By receiving many inhabitants of the capital and the rest of the towns of the province, it is having a great population growth, at the same time that the capital loses inhabitants, who move to neighboring towns. The main causes of the exodus to the towns of the metropolitan area are, mainly, the difficulty of accessing a home in the capital due to its high prices and work reasons, since the majority are located in the towns on the periphery. of industrial estates.

Capital

The city of Granada is the capital of the province of the same name and therefore all the provincial administrative entities are located there, both dependent on the regional government and the State. On behalf of the Junta de Andalucía there is a provincial delegation from each of the Government ministries, coordinated by a Government delegate dependent on the Ministry of the Interior, The Government of Spain has the Government Sub-delegation in Granada, dependent on the Government Delegate in the autonomous community. Likewise, the headquarters of the Provincial Council of Granada, the Superior Police Headquarters of Eastern Andalusia, the Post Office of Eastern Andalusia and Melilla, etc. are located in the city.

The city is also the headquarters of the Andalusian Prosecutor's Office, the Andalusian Advisory Council and the Andalusian Notarial College. It houses other regional institutions of a cultural or scientific nature such as the Musical Documentation Center of Andalusia, the Library of Andalusia, the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia, the Andalusian Institute of Geophysics and Seismic Disaster Prevention, the Institute of Academies of Andalusia, the Center of Performing Arts Studies of Andalusia, the Andalusian School of Public Health, or the School Council of Andalusia. In the private sphere, and as a consequence of this provincial capital status, many companies and organizations have their provincial headquarters located.

Justice

Granada is home to the headquarters of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla (TSJA), located in Plaza Nueva, in the historic Royal Chancellery building, as well as the Andalusian Superior Prosecutor's Office, located at the building of the Bank of Spain. It has a Provincial Court, located on Corteza del Carmen street, and is also the head of the province's judicial district no.

Royal Chancellery, headquarters of the Superior Court of Justice of Andalusia, Ceuta and Melilla

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

• High Court of Justice: President. Civil-Penal Room. Dispute Chamber. Social Chamber.
• Provincial High Court: President. Criminal: 2; Civil: 3
• Courtesy:

Municipal government

Its political administration is carried out through a democratically managed City Council, whose members are elected every four years by universal suffrage. The electoral census is made up of all residents registered in Granada over the age of 18, of Spanish nationality and of other member countries of the European Union. According to the provisions of the General Electoral Regime Law, which establishes the number of eligible councilors based on the population of the municipality, the Municipal Corporation of Granada is made up of 27 councilors. In the municipal elections held in 2015, the constitution of the City Council was made up of eleven councilors belonging to the Popular Party (PP), eight to the Socialist Party (PSOE), four belonging to Ciudadanos-Partido de la Ciudadanía (Cs), three to Vamos and one to United Left-Socialist Alternative-For the People (PG). After these results with the rise of the new political forces, PP and PSOE lost power; After negotiations, an agreement was reached with José Torres Hurtado, of the Popular Party, who continues as mayor, under the supervision of compliance with the regeneration demanded by the Ciudadanos party. After his resignation, due to his involvement in Operation Seraglio / Nazarí, the socialist Francisco Cuenca was appointed mayor.

The Town Hall of Granada, in the Plaza del Carmen

Territorial organization

Granada district map (before 2013)

The municipality of Granada consists of eight districts whose population is distributed in the attached graph according to the 2009 census of the Granada City Council. These districts in turn formed a group of 36 neighborhoods. All district and neighborhood boundaries were changed in February 2013.

Municipal service areas

The municipal government team has organized the distribution of management responsibilities, structuring itself into the following service areas: Weddings and Palaces, Equal Opportunities, Economy, Education, Communications Office, Unified license management, Youth, Environment Environment, Municipal Consumer Information Office (OMIC), Citizen Participation, Civil Protection Volunteer Group, Local Police.

Economy

The data attached to the activity and occupation tables may be outdated because, with the current economic crisis (2011), labor activity is changing negatively with an increase in unemployment and the disappearance of many companies.

Caja Granada-BMN-Bankia

In 2011, a report on the "Regional Economic Balance" published by the Fundación de Cajas de Ahorro, consolidated it as the Spanish province furthest from the wealth standard of the European Union, with a convergence index of 28.7 points below average.

Business

In 2008, there were a total of 24,966 companies in the municipality, generally small, since 22,665 of them had a workforce of less than five workers, 1,672 companies had a workforce between 6 and 19 workers and only 62 were registered with a workforce of more than 20 workers (there were two companies for which data on their workforce was lacking).

Employment

In the period between 1996 and 2007, the registered unemployment rate has always been less than 6%, so it can be considered as technical unemployment. However, as a result of the global economic crisis unleashed in 2008, the number of unemployed has not stopped increasing, since, according to the Argos Observatory of the Andalusian Employment Service, registered unemployment in December 2009 amounted to 24,828 people, of whom 12,435 were men and 12,393 were women..

Rent available

According to the database provided by the Andalusian Institute of Statistics (IEA), disposable income per resident inhabitant fluctuated in 2003 between €9,300 and €10,200.

Agriculture

Statistical data from 2007 indicate that the municipality has a relatively small total arable area. Specifically, an area of 1042 hectares of woody crops was registered, mainly olive groves (919 ha), of which 789 ha were rainfed and 130 ha irrigated. On the other hand, there was a total of 1,197 ha devoted to arable crops, with corn being the main irrigated crop among them, with a total of 499 ha.

Industry

Calle San Antón, important commercial route of the city

Its economic structure presents a marked weakness in industrial activity and in the agricultural sector, with a great dependence on the services and construction sectors.

Industrial activity is concentrated in very few companies with low technological intensity linked to traditionally agricultural activities in the area, highlighting the agri-food industry (dairy), with companies such as Puleva, Dhul and Cervezas Alhambra or manufacturing companies of metal products or of wood. Industrial land within its municipal area is scarce due to the importance of the industrial estates present in the neighboring municipalities and its metropolitan area, which cause a strong industrial relocation.

Construction

The housing construction sector has had a great impact on the local economy, with a total of 1,430 companies registered in 2008, some of which are among the most important real estate and construction companies in Andalusia (Inmobiliaria Osuna and Construcciones Avila Rojas). Since 2008, the sector has been going through a deep crisis as a result of the bursting of the real estate bubble in Spain, which is why many companies have ceased their commercial activity or are in a compromised situation.

Trade

Commercial activity occupies a prominent place, both for the city and for the entire province.

Tourism

Fountain of the Lions, The Alhambra

Granada is a city that receives a large number of visitors, both national and international, thanks to its extensive artistic-monumental, cultural and ethnological heritage, including its Spring Festivals (Easter Week and Corpus Christi).

There is also significant sports tourism as a result of the existence of an important ski resort in Pradollano (Sierra Nevada). The most visited heritage site, and in turn the most visited in Spain, is the Alhambra and its surroundings, also highlighting the Albaicín and Sacromonte neighborhoods. There is a significant flow of travelers, especially schoolchildren from all corners of Andalusia, who come to visit the Granada Science Park as it is the only one of its kind in the autonomous community.

Palacio de exposiciones y Congresos de Granada

Granada has an exhibition and conference center located in a central area of the city; It is 15 kilometers from the airport and has good access from the ring road. It has a useful area of more than 45,000 m², built on seven levels organized to allow the development of different and simultaneous activities. Its facilities are equipped with advanced technologies, typical of this type of building.

Evolution of outstanding municipal debt

The concept of outstanding debt includes only debts with savings banks and banks related to financial credits, fixed-income securities and loans or credits transferred to third parties, excluding, therefore, commercial debt.

Graphic of evolution of living debt of the City of Granada between 2008 and 2021

Living debt of the City of Granada in thousands of euros according to data of the Ministry of Finance and Public Service.

Services

Faculty of Sciences

Education

University

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531 by Carlos I, was the continuation of higher education at La Madraza, when the city was the capital of the last Nasrid Kingdom. The University of Granada has become internationally recognized in all university areas: teaching, research, cultural and services to its members and their environment. It is for this reason one of the destinations that receives the most exchange students from the Erasmus Program and the fourth Spanish university in number of students, after UNED, the Complutense University of Madrid, and the University of Seville. In the 2007/2008 academic year, it had 56,091 students enrolled and also has campuses in the cities of Ceuta and Melilla.

College Heart of Jesus, in the neighborhood of Cervantes

Compulsory education

There are a total of 69 Compulsory Secondary Education centers in the city, many of which are subsidized private centers. Infant and primary education is taught in 104 centers, divided between private, subsidized and public centers. There are also five adult education centers. In the University Hospital Complex of Granada, one and four hospital classrooms are operating respectively.

Health

Its public health system is the exclusive responsibility of the autonomous community, which provides two types of care: primary, which is the first level of access to the system; and the specialized Health centers and clinics constitute the supply of primary care, differing from each other in the level of care they provide.

Hospital network

Its hospital network is basically made up of public hospitals managed by the Andalusian Health Service (SAS) and other smaller privately managed centers. This network covers the needs of the city and its Metropolitan Area. In total there are 2,047 beds, of which 1,694 belong to the SAS, 190 are arranged with the Order of San Juan de Dios, and 163 belong to privately run clinics.

New PTS hospital, opened in July 2016

• The Hospital Universitario Clínico San Cecilio (or Hospital of PTS), was completely inaugurated in July 2016 and is the second largest in Spain—after the Hospital La Paz— and is the reference center in the city for the areas of Allergy Surgery, Pathological Anatomy, Hematology, Internal Medicine, Mental Health, Pneumology, Radiation therapy or Urology, among others; Orthopedic and Traumatological Surgery;

• The Virgen de las Nieves Regional Hospital Complex (popularly known as the Hospital Ruiz de Alda), consists of a general hospital, a maternal and child hospital, all located in the same enclosure, and is maintained as a neurological center of Digestive, Respiratory, Oncology, Hematology and Transplants. It includes the Hospital San Juan de Dios, a peripheral centre of specialties and a therapeutic unit for the mentally ill.

• The San Rafael Hospital has a hospitalization capacity of 190 beds and as a day hospital it has 45 geriatric and 15 Alzheimer's places. It is the property of the Hospitaller Order of Saint John of God. It is dedicated especially to the comprehensive care of the elderly with a large number of analysis and rehabilitation services. The hospital activity is arranged with the Health Council of the Junta de Andalucía.

• The Immaculate 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.

• The Our Lady of Health Clinic is a private hospital that has 71 rooms and belongs to the Adeslas insurance company. Take care of the insured of private medical companies. It currently has a new location with a newly built location. It is very close to the Alhambra, near the Serrallo Tunnels, being its previous location on the Avenue of the Armed Forces.

Health centres

The local primary care network is currently made up of eight health centers distributed throughout the different districts of the city and are the following: Zaidín Sur, Zaidín Centro-Este, Realejo, Las Flores, La Caleta, Góngora, Doctores, Charterhouse and Albaicín.

Cemetery of San José, in the neighborhood of La Carretera de la Sierra

Municipal competencies

Article 42 of the General Health Law provides that city councils, without prejudice to the powers of other public administrations, shall have the following minimum responsibilities in matters related to health.

• Environmental health control: air pollution, water supply, wastewater sanitation and urban and industrial waste.
• Health control of industries, activities and services, transport, noises and vibrations.
• Sanitary control of buildings and places of housing and human coexistence, especially of food centers, hairdressers, saunas and personal hygiene centers, hotels and residential centers, schools, tourist camps and areas of sports and recreational physical activity.
• Health control of the distribution and supply of perishable foods, beverages and other products, directly or indirectly related to human use or consumption, as well as means of transport.
• Sanitary control of cemeteries and mortuary health police.

Citizen security

Local police vehicle

The coordination between the State security forces (National Police, Civil Guard, Local Police and Autonomous Police) and the Granada City Council is carried out by the local Citizen Security Board. This body allows the correct communication of the security forces in matters of security, entering within its powers the prevention of crime, road safety and the correct development of events.

Daily citizen security is the responsibility of the state and local Security Forces and Corps (Spain) based on the powers that each estate has, seeking to act in a coordinated and collaborative manner in the prosecution and resolution of all kinds of crimes that citizens produce.

Social Services

Granada City Council has a Social Services Area to provide the necessary help and advice that the most disadvantaged and needy groups and people may need. For this, the Delegation of Social Welfare of the Granada City Council has several municipal centers for community social services, one for each local district, coordinated by the Los Mondragones Municipal Administrative Complex located on Avenida Fuerzas Armadas. In its internal organization, the services provided are organized around each municipal center and therefore each municipal district, but also around groups.

Energy infrastructure

Electricity

In 2009 it consumed a total of 960 802 MWh of electrical energy, of which 410 860 MWh corresponded to the residential consumption of homes in Granada.

Fuel

The supply of oil-derived fuels to Granada and its area of influence comes from the deposits that the Hydrocarbons Logistics Company (CLH) has located in the port of Motril. The transport of fuel from Motril to its gas stations and those of its province is carried out by tanker trucks, because the CLH company has entered into logistic service contracts for the use of its facilities with most of the operators (gas stations) in the province.

The avenue of the Constitution seen from the viewpoint of the Lona Lane

Gas butano and propane

The Repsol-Butano company has logistics facilities for butane and propane gas in the Granada municipality of Peligros to cover the demand that this type of fuel generates throughout the province of Granada. The gas arrives at the Peligros facilities in railway wagons from the oil refineries and the empty cylinders are refilled at that plant. The company CEPSA also distributes butane in the city with a type of lighter cylinders.

Natural gas

The natural gas consumed in Grenada and its metropolitan area comes mainly from Algeria. The consumption of natural gas has been increasing as distribution networks to homes are being built.

The popular Bib-Rambla Square, with the Neptune fountain in the center

Drinking water

The career of the Darro

The drinking water supply network and wastewater treatment in the city of Granada is carried out by the city council through the Emasagra public limited company. After its creation in 1982 as a municipal public limited company, the company underwent two expansions in its shareholder structure, the first in 1997 and the second in 2005, becoming a mixed public limited company with the participation of private companies.

Granada's drinking water comes mainly from the Canales and Quéntar reservoirs and to a lesser extent from the Genil river ditches. The groundwater from the Vega de Granada aquifer is also very important, which the city could use only in case of need, for the different crops located in it. The distribution of water in the city from the water treatment stations (ETAP) takes place through a network made up of 22 independent sectors into which the city is divided and whose objective is to optimize the distribution and location of leaks. The same company Emasagra is in charge of maintaining the distribution network and water evacuation which includes sewer cleaning, pipe repair or water analysis.

The treatment of wastewater from the domestic and sewage networks is carried out in the two sewage treatment plants (WWTP) present in the city and which also provide services to other municipalities in the metropolitan area, the Estación Puradora de Los Vados and the South-Churriana Station.

Sanitation infrastructures

The municipal ordinance for cleanliness, public decoration and urban waste management of the city of Granada was approved in the ordinary session of the Town Hall Plenary held in June 2006 and it regulates the conditions under which the town hall provides the service, the rates that apply, the infractions that it contemplates and sanctions that could apply.

The city council of Granada carries out, through the company INAGRA, the collection of urban solid waste, the cleaning of the roads and the maintenance of the necessary infrastructure for this. With this objective, the city is divided into various sectors and the company has a workforce of more than 500 employees. Waste collection is selective, with containers for glass, paper, plastic and organic waste. The city's waste is treated at the Alhendín Recycling and Composting Plant. These specialized facilities for the treatment of non-hazardous waste are managed by the Granada Provincial Council through the RESUR company, in which all the municipalities of the province participate.

Supply

The operation of the wholesale markets in Granada is regulated by the city council through a specific regulation approved in 2009. The management company of the city's central markets is Mercados Centrales de Abastecimiento de Granada (Mercagranada), founded in 1967 and with headquarters at km 436 of the Badajoz-Granada highway. Its scope of incidence is the entire province, with special incidence in the capital and its metropolitan area, as well as some towns in the neighboring provinces: Almería, Jaén and Málaga.

According to the La Caixa Economic Yearbook 2008 in the city there were 1,321 small traditional food stores, 137 supermarkets from different food chains and four shopping centers belonging to the companies Carrefour, Alcampo and Hipercor.

Equipment of green areas

Source of the Triomphe

Source of the Battles

The city of Granada has a significant number of parks and gardens with many historical and popular links, among these natural spaces the following stand out:

Transportation

Transport infrastructure

Urban traffic regulation

Article 7 of the Law on Traffic, Circulation and Road Safety approved by RDL 339/1990 attributes to the municipalities sufficient powers to allow, among others, the immobilization of vehicles, the management and control of traffic and the regulation of its uses. This regulation takes place through the General Ordinance of circulation and occupation of public spaces of the city of Granada approved in plenary session on October 31, 1997 and in it they define the uses that can be given to the roads, the speeds that vehicles can reach as well as the hours and zones established for the loading and unloading of goods in the city.

Motor vehicle park

Granada has a car park at a rate of 516 automobiles per 1,000 inhabitants, which is higher than the provincial ratio that only has 458 automobiles per 1,000 inhabitants, according to the existing data in the Economic Yearbook of Spain 2009, published by La Caixa. In these same data, a high fleet of trucks and vans can be observed, which indicates a large number of autonomous freight carriers or in small companies or cooperatives and an important transfer of these vehicles through the city.

Communications

Motorways

• GR-30, the Circunvalación de Granada, connects the A-44 motorway to the north with Jaén and Madrid and to the south with Motril (capital of the Costa Granadina).
• A-395, Granada-Sierra Nevada, became a motorway in its route south of the city, called Ronda Sur.
• A-92G, connects the city with Granada Airport, and the A-92 direction Malaga.

Other roads

• N-432, (Granada-Badajoz through Cordoba).

There are also several local highways that intertwine Granada with the rest of the Metropolitan Area.

Public transport

A bus from the old LAC line, at the Caleta exchanger

The Granada Area Metropolitan Transport Consortium is a public law entity of an associative nature constituted to promote the technical and administrative cooperation of its members. It has its own assets, autonomous administration and extensive legal capacity. Its powers are specified in the creation and management of transport infrastructures and services in the municipalities of the consortium. Granada City Council has belonged to this consortium since its creation.

The other administrations of the consortium are the Junta de Andalucía, the Provincial Council of Granada and the municipalities of 32 other towns in the metropolitan area of Granada. Among the objectives and functions of the Consortium are:

• Regular the Intermodal Transport Plan of the Granada Area.
• Planning and ordering transport infrastructures and services that are declared of metropolitan interest.
• Promote cooperation in the provision of public transport services for travellers, as well as the construction and operation of necessary infrastructures.
• Establish the tariff framework for service delivery.

According to a report from July 2017, the average time people spend on public transport in Granada on a weekday is 42 minutes, while 9% of people spend more than 2 hours every day. The average time that people wait at a stop or station is 10 minutes, while 8% of people wait more than 20 minutes each day. The average distance that people usually travel in a single trip is 2.7 km.

City bus

S1 line urban bus, operated by Transportes Rober

The City Council of Granada has granted the operation of urban bus transport to the company Alsa, heir to the concession with Transportes Rober that the city council designated in 1962. Since then the growth of the service has evolved along with The urban development of the city was doing so. In 2008, to provide its services, the company had a fleet of 150 buses, some of them articulated with a special length. The service is provided on 29 different route lines, with four tourist lines and two night lines. The operating figures for 2007 indicate that it transports about 35 million passengers a year.

In 2014 there was a major reorganization of the city's urban bus lines, giving rise to a system of zoned lines that provide short-distance services to the different neighborhoods of the city (north, south, and center) and five south-north transverse lines. The main novelty was the implementation of a high capacity line (LAC) that made its way through the center, so that travelers normally had to make at least one change. The objective was to reduce pollution and traffic in the downtown area, but the controversy generated due to its low functionality led the new government in 2018 to undo the changes of the previous one, eliminating the LAC line and the five south-north lines, recovering some old lines and combining them with other existing ones, with a view to reducing transfers and making the urban bus network compatible with the metro line.

Granada Metro

Clothes and platforms of line 1 at the station of Méndez Núñez

The Granada Metro is a light rail system that crosses the city of Granada and connects it with its metropolitan area. Its route has sections in which it runs on the surface and others in which it circulates on underground tracks. Its construction began in 2007 with a budget of 460 million euros, but cost overruns raised the figure to 558 million. It was inaugurated on September 21, 2017, and from the beginning it was very well received by the public: in its first year it had 9.5 million users and in its second year those figures are improving.

The route, 17 km long and with a total of 26 stops, crosses the city completely through the Camino de Ronda and links it with the municipalities of Albolote, Maracena and Armilla. The system is served by a total of 15 railway units of the CAF Urbos III model.

The design of the line tries to cover the main services and attractions of the city such as the Technological Park of Health Sciences, the Fuentenueva University Campus, the university hospital complex, the railway station and the buses, as well as the Nuevo Los Cármenes sports stadium or the main shopping center. On several occasions a second line has been proposed that would cover the center of the city.

The implementation of the metropolitan transport system will foreseeably remove 8,000 vehicles a day from the circulation, which will considerably reduce the emissions of polluting gases in the metropolitan area, thus reducing pollution, which is one of the main problems facing the city today.

Construction of the subway

Metropolitan bus

Granada has an extensive network of more than 65 regular intercity bus lines that connect the city with its Metropolitan area, including night routes. The fare system of the metropolitan area is divided into four zones (A, B, C and D) according to the distance of each municipality from the capital.

The metropolitan bus network is managed by the Granada Area Metropolitan Transport Consortium, an entity made up of the Junta de Andalucía, the Granada Provincial Council and all the municipalities involved.

Railway

La Estación de Granada, en el barrio de Los Pajaritos

Granada Station is located in the center of the city. Two railway lines reach it: Moreda-Granada and Bobadilla-Granada. Based on the latter, the high-speed line connecting Granada with the NAFA in Antequera-Santa Ana has been built.

It has daily direct national connections through Renfe Operadora-Larga distancia: the Trenhotel Gibralfaro and the Arco García Lorca train to Albacete, Valencia-Estación del Norte, Castellón, Tarragona and Barcelona Sants; and the two Talgo Altaria trains to Antequera-Santa Ana, Córdoba, Ciudad Real and Madrid-Puerta de Atocha.

It also has direct regional connections through Renfe Operadora-Media Distancia to Seville (line 68), Almería (line 68), Algeciras (line 70), Antequera (lines 68 and 70), Ronda (line 70), Loja (lines 68 and 70), Guadix (line 68), and Linares-Baeza (line 71).

There is a certain social sensitivity in the province towards the reopening of the Guadix-Baza-Almendricos railway section whose closure in 1985 interrupted the Granada-Murcia line, the so-called Almanzora railway, which connected the southeast of the peninsula with the Mediterranean arc.

On June 25, 2019, the connection of Granada with the Spanish High Speed was inaugurated through the Antequera-Granada line, connecting the city with Madrid and Barcelona, among other important cities in the country, and including a new line of 122 kilometers long between Antequera (Málaga) and Seville. The works lasted 10 years and involved an investment of 1,675 million euros.

Air transportation

Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport Terminal

The Federico García Lorca Granada-Jaén Airport (GRX), located 17 km west of the city, in the town of Chauchina, is the fourth largest airport in Andalusia in number of passengers and cargo, with a total of 753,142 passengers in 2016.

Its commercial flight offer includes a total of fourteen destinations. Among them, there are international flights to various cities in Europe, such as London-London City, London-Gatwick, Manchester, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Nantes-Atlantique, Berlin-Tegel or Milan-Malpensa. As far as Spain is concerned, the connections from Granada are Madrid-Barajas, Barcelona-El Prat, Palma de Mallorca, Bilbao, Melilla, Gran Canaria and Tenerife North and Valencia.

Heritage

Famous trunk of Ciprés de la Sultana, in the gardens of the Generalife

The greatest artistic wealth of Granada is Hispano-Muslim art and, especially, the palatine city of the Alhambra and the Generalife, the latter a pleasure palace with a garden with a currently romantic plan, remarkable both for its location and layout as well as for the diversity of flowers, plants and water features. The Alhambra is the culmination of Nasrid art, a work that was carried out in the XIII and XIV, most of the buildings corresponding to the time of Yusuf I and Mohamed V, between 1333 and 1354.

Currently, the physiognomy of the city of Granada is typically bourgeois, with a lot of 19th century architecture and numerous Renaissance and Baroque buildings.

The Alhambra

Monument to Angel Ganivet

The Alhambra, the Nasrid palatine city declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1984, is undoubtedly the most emblematic monument of Granada. It consists of a defensive area, the Alcazaba; another of a residential and representative nature, the Nasrid Palaces; and a last one for leisure, the Generalife, which consists of a palace, gardens and orchards.

The current architectural complex of the Alhambra is the work of many centuries of expansions and destructions. The first works of construction of a palace-alcazaba are due to the founder of the Nasrid dynasty Muhammad I, in the XIII century, although a previous fortification already existed since at least the IX century.

Successively, all the rulers of the Kingdom of Granada added elements to the building, the works carried out during the mandates of Yusuf I and Muhammad V being especially important. After the Castilian conquest of the city, it was during the reign of Carlos I that they were carried out the biggest modifications destroying part of the Nasrid palace to build the so-called Palace of Carlos V. The works of this palace, one of the most important works of the Spanish Renaissance, would begin in 1533 and would last until 1957.

Portico del Patio de los Arrayanes detail at the Comares Palace

During the 17th and XVIII the monument gradually lost its importance and houses were built inside using elements from the original palaces. This, together with the blasting carried out by the Napoleonic armies in their withdrawal from the city in 1812, caused great deterioration in the defenses and buildings of the Alhambra. In 1870 it was declared a National Monument and restoration works began with expropriations of private land and buildings built inside under the supervision of the recently created Board of Trustees of the Alhambra.

Currently the Alhambra and Generalife complex is one of the most visited monuments in Spain. The visitor accesses it through the Puerta de la Justicia to reach the Plaza de los Aljibes. From here it is possible to visit the citadel, a military fortification built in the XIV century, armed with the great Torre de la Vela and used as access control to the palaces and as a defense against attacks on the building.

The Plaza de los Aljibes also communicates the main access with the residential area through the Puerta del Vino. In this area, the royal fortresses differ from the so-called Alhambra Alta. The latter was the area of residence for high-ranking officials from Granada. In this place it is possible to see, among other buildings, the old Convent of San Francisco (now the National Parador) that housed the bodies of the Catholic Monarchs until the construction of the Royal Chapel. The royal palaces of the Alhambra, place of residence and administration of the kings of Granada and their family, consist of a series of buildings and courtyards built throughout the city's Nasrid period. But the first building that occupies its premises is not of Andalusian origin, the palace of Carlos V has been found since the XV century in the place where the southern gallery of the Comares Palace was previously located. Among the Nasrid palaces, the Comares palace stands out especially, built by Yusuf I and which contains the Patio de los Arrayanes and the Golden Room and the palace inside. de los Leones, the work of Muhammad V and in whose enclosure it is possible to visit the Sala de Mocárabes, the Sala de los Reyes or the Patio de los Leones. Among the artistic values of these constructions, the decoration based on plasterwork with epigraphic motifs stands out or geometric that represent the greatest exponents of this technique in the peninsula.

panoramic view of the Alhambra with Sierra Nevada to the background

The Generalife

Generalife

The Generalife is an area of gardens attached to the Alhambra that became a place of recreation and rest for the Muslim kings of Granada when they wanted to escape from the official life of the palace.

It consists of a palace and several gardens, walkways and viewpoints resulting from the different extensions and modifications carried out in the place, many of them from the century XX. The place was developed as an orchard in the XII century at the initiative of Muhammad II, initially without pretending to be the place of leisure and rest he had later. The expansion of 1319, the work of Ismail I, meant the arrival of water pipes from the nearby Darro river and with it the construction of fountains and irrigation systems.

The space occupied by the gardens is articulated around terraces and is delimited by high walls in the strictest model of a private garden very present in medieval culture. In fact, part of these gardens are located inside the Generalife Palace or limited by its rooms such as the Patio de la Acequia or the Escalera del Agua where it is also possible to notice the importance of the fountains and canals in the garden concept of the time.

Part of the current image of the gardens is due to modifications after the Nasrid period. Remodeling carried out after the XV century is common and very evident in some parts of the complex. In the Ciprés de la Sultana garden, for example, the building and the pond built correspond to the reign of Felipe II. There are also areas, viewpoints and romantic gardens, redeveloped during the XIX century according to the mentality of the time.

Cathedral

Granada Cathedral sits atop the Great Nasrid Mosque of Granada, in the center of the city. Its construction began during the Spanish Renaissance, at the beginning of the XVI century, shortly after the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs, entrusting the works to Juan Gil de Hontañón and Enrique Egas. In the reign of Carlos I of Spain, numerous constructions were carried out in the city of Granada, which is why the cathedral is contemporary with the Christian palace of the Alhambra, the University and the chancellery (supreme court).

Cathedral of Granada

The temple was conceived taking the cathedral of Toledo as a model, so it was initially a Gothic project, as was customary in Spain in the first decades of the century XVI. However, when Egas was relieved and Diego de Siloé was commissioned to continue the work in 1529, he resumed the project, taking advantage of what had already been built and modified the approach towards a fully Renaissance aesthetic.

The author drew the Renaissance lines of the entire building on the Gothic foundations, with an ambulatory and five naves instead of the usual three. Over time, important artistic projects continued to be developed. This is the case of the reform of the main façade, undertaken in 1664 by Alonso Cano (1601-1667), in which Baroque elements are introduced. In 1706 Francisco de Hurtado Izquierdo and later his collaborator José Bada built the current tabernacle of the cathedral.

Of the components of the temple, the Main Chapel stands out, where the praying statues of the Catholic Monarchs are located, which is made up of a series of Corinthian columns on whose capital is the entablature and on this the vault, which is located, like the lower spaces on the columns, pierced, housing a series of windows. The tabernacle, from 1706, maintains the classical proportions of the temple, while the multiple columns of the transept maintain the shapes of the Siloam compound order.

Royal Chapel

The Royal Chapel of Granada, by Enrique Egas, is the most important Gothic building in the city. Its works began in 1505 after the Catholic Monarchs decided to build a mausoleum in the city for themselves and their descendants. Inside are the tombs of Isabella I of Castilla, Ferdinand II of Aragon, Juana la Loca and Felipe el Hermoso, although the rest of the Spanish monarchs were buried in the monastery of El Escorial since 1574 at the express wish of King Felipe II..

The building is built on the site that until the conquest of the city had occupied the main mosque of the city. It is attached to the Granada cathedral and the fish market and in its surroundings is the building of La Madraza and the alcaicería, the complex being one of the most frequented places in the city.

In its interior, the main altarpiece stands out, the work of Felipe Bigarny, and in whose decoration Diego de Siloé intervened, who had also intervened a few years before in the works of the cathedral. The chapel also preserves pictorial works from the collection of Isabel la Católica, including two paintings recently attributed to Juan de Flandes, copies of the Miraflores Triptych by Rogier van der Weyden, and a Prayer del huerto by Sandro Botticelli, as well as works by Pedro Berruguete or Alonso Cano. The presence, along with other Christian iconographic motifs, of a relief in the basement of the main altarpiece representing the delivery of the keys to the city by the Nasrid king Boabdil to the kings of Castile and Aragon. Another of its main artistic values is the Greater Gate that delimits the space of the chapel of the kings and that represents one of the most important works of ironwork of the time.

The chapel was declared a Historic-Artistic Monument in 1884, currently an Asset of Cultural Interest (BIC), and is the second most visited monument in the city after the Alhambra.

• 

  Hans Memling - Diptic of Granada, left-wing: Acceptance of the Cross, h. 1475

• 

  Attributed to Juan de Flandes - Birth of Christ, 1435-1438

• 

  Sandro Botticelli - Prayer of the Garden

Albaicín

Albaicín

Tower of Comares from the Albaicín

El Albaicín (or Albayzín) is a neighborhood of Andalusian origin, much visited by tourists who come to the city, due to its historical, architectural and landscape connotations.

Declared in 1984 a World Heritage Site by Unesco along with the Alhambra and the Generalife, its Moorish-style buildings and urban planning stand out. The setting for some of the most important episodes of medieval Granada since its settlement in the XI century, the Albaicín preserves the remains of various sections of the old Arab wall, such as the Zirid wall of the Alcazaba Cadima, the Nasrid wall or the towers of the Alcazaba. In the surroundings of the Darro river is the Royal Chancery. Built from 1526 by Diego de Siloé and declared a Site of Cultural Interest (BIC) in 1977, it is one of the best examples of Renaissance architecture in the city.

The Albaicín adds to its urban and architectural values others of a landscape nature. The various viewpoints established there that offer the visitor attractive views of the monumental complex of the Alhambra and the Generalife are very popular. The viewpoints of San Cristóbal or San Nicolás, very popular with tourists, are a good example of this.

Sacromonte

Typical street of Sacromonte

Dupula del Sagrario de la Cartuja

The neighborhood of Sacromonte is located on the hill of Valparaíso. This neighborhood is known for being the old gypsy neighborhood, who settled in Granada after the conquest of the city. It consists of one of its most picturesque neighbourhoods, full of locality, with whitewashed caves, where the strumming of guitars, songs and quejíos sound, which is why over time it has become one of the most important tourist attractions in Granada.

At the top of this hill is the Sacromonte Abbey and the Sacromonte College, an institution founded in the XVII century, by the then Archbishop of Granada Pedro de Castro. The Sacromonte Abbey was built with the idea of keeping the supposed relics of the evangelizers of Baetica.

The complex is made up of Las Santas Cuevas, La Abadía (XVII-XVIII), the Old College of San Dionisio Areopagita (XVII< century) /span>) and the New College (XIX century).

In 2002, the Cuevas del Sacromonte Museum, the Sacromonte interpretation center, opened its doors. The museum occupies a 4800 square meter space in which up to eleven caves have been recovered for your visit in their original state, just as their inhabitants maintained them. It seeks to publicize and help understand the culture, history and natural environment of the Darro river valley (Asset of Cultural Interest since 2016). Through these eleven caves, the cave-dwelling, the stable, the traditional trades (basketry, forge, loom, ceramics), a cave exclusively dedicated to the history of flamenco in Sacromonte and another specialized in troglodyte architecture are revealed. in the world. Outside the enclosure you can enjoy a privileged viewpoint with views of the Alhambra, the city and the valley of the river Darro.

Cartridge

The monastery of La Cartuja was founded in 1506 by the community of Carthusian monks from the monastery of El Paular. The patron or promoter of the work was Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba who donated some orchard land belonging to him for the construction, in order to be buried within its walls under the protection of the monks' prayers. The place was known since ancient times as Aynadamar and had been a Muslim almunia.

The Monastery suffered great damage during the War of Independence and lost a lot of land in 1837 as a consequence of the confiscation of Mendizábal. Currently the monastery belongs to the Carthusian Order, depending directly on the Diocese of Granada.

In the building as a whole, the doorway with Plateresque decoration through which one has access to the building stands out. Inside, after crossing the main patio, is the church. This neoclassical-style building has a single nave that is profusely decorated with contributions from different authors throughout the two centuries in which the monastery was occupied.

Through the patio you can also access the other rooms of the complex, the Sancta Santorum, a good example of Andalusian Baroque, the Refectory, the rooms of the monks or the Gothic-style Lego Chapter House, all buildings built between the 16th and 18th< centuries /span>. The different images, canvases and altarpieces that decorate each of the rooms are very remarkable, all of them of great artistic importance. Thus it is possible to observe paintings by Juan Sánchez Cotán, sculptures by José Risueño or inlaid furniture made by José Manuel Vázquez.

Culture

Centro cultural Caja Granada

Cultural events

Throughout the year various organizations, such as the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía, the City Council, the University and private companies, organize or sponsor cultural events of all kinds. The attached list is merely indicative and is limited to pointing out those that are best referenced and enjoy greater tradition and continuity.

• Festival Internacional de Música y Danza de Granada, is a sample of art of great importance and quality, and one of the most renowned and prestigious cultural activities in Granada.
• Annual concert season of the Orchestra City of Granada, in the Manuel de Falla Auditorium.
• Granada International Jazz Festival, one of the most important and ancient festivals in Europe dedicated to this music.
• Granada International Tango Festival, the festival dedicated to this oldest genre in Europe and one of the most important in the continent.
• International Poetry Festival Granada City. It is celebrated in various auditoriums of the city and of the university, and among its acts is the presentation of the International Prize of Poetry Federico García Lorca, considered one of the most important in the field of poetry in Spanish language.
• Festival de Granada Cines del Sur, dedicated to the cinematographic production of countries of Latin America, Africa and Asia.
• International Comic Chamber of Granada, which had its first edition in 1994. For a week, a public coming from all over the country is intermingled with European, American and Japanese authors.
• FicZone Manga Hall in Granada, event dedicated to manga, Japanese culture, comics, animation and science fiction.
• Festival Internacional de Juventud Realizadores de Granada, which attracts actors and film directors from Spain and from different countries of the world.
• Taurina del Corpus Christi Fair. It is celebrated during the major festivals of the city.

Museums

Casa de Castril, headquarters of the Archaeological Museum of Granada

It has a wide, varied and quality museum proposal, where collections of great artistic, ethnological and cultural interest are exhibited. The Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Granada, the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada, the Alhambra Museum, the Science Park of Granada, the José Guerrero Center, the Memory of Andalusia Museum, the Sacromonte Caves Museum, Interpretation Center del Valle del Darro or the House-Museum of Federico García Lorca are some of its best cultural displays.

Archaeological and Ethnological Museum of Granada

The Archaeological Museum of Granada was created in 1867; although until 1879 it was considered a mere Cabinet of Antiquities dependent on the Granada Monuments Commission, which formed its first collection with the funds of the Monuments Commission, with two sections: Archaeology and Fine Arts. In 1917 the Casa de Castril was acquired to move the museum to that place. The Casa de Castril is considered one of the best Renaissance palaces in Granada. It was duly modified to accommodate the museum in its rooms. Bordering the Casa de Castril was the house of the painter Rafael Latorre, which was acquired in 1962 as an extension to the museum. In 1980 a new room was conceived, the Ethnological Section, which was never opened. The contents of the museum include archaeological finds from the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods made in the province of Granada, as well as Iberian, Phoenician, Roman and Arab pieces of notable value.

Science Park

Albert Einstein Sculpture located in a bank at the entrance of the Science Park

The Granada Science Park is the first interactive science museum in Andalusia and one of the most relevant in Spain. Since its inauguration, in May 1995, it has grown in three phases until constituting the more than 26,000 square meters that make up its surface. In November 2008, the fourth expansion phase was inaugurated, which doubled the area of the center and also its contents. The Science Park is located in a central area of Granada and has become one of its main tourist attractions, especially for students from all educational centers in Andalusia. The park is made up of a significant series of permanent and temporary exhibitions. The Consortium that participates in the Science Park is made up of a series of public institutions from the Junta de Andalucía, the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), the Provincial Council, the City Council, the University and private corporations.

Museo de la Memoria de Andalucía de Caja Granada

The Museum of the Memory of Andalusia is located in front of the Science Park, in an avant-garde architectural space designed by the architect Alberto Campo Baeza. It has a collection that shows the artistic memory of Andalusia as a region connected to the world, from artists and romantic travelers, through Picasso and Braque, José Guerrero, Louise Borgeoise, Luis Gordillo and many more. Linked to the CajaGranada Social Work, its objective is to reach all audiences, schoolchildren, families, tourists and groups at risk of social exclusion.

Botanic Garden of the University of Granada

Gateway to the Botanic Garden of the University of Granada

The University of Granada has a botanical garden located in the Faculty of Law. The gate and doorway were built starting in 1882 by the architect Juan Monserrat Vergés and after various stages of abandonment it was restored at the end of the 20th century recovering its old layout and acquiring the teaching function that it had lost over time. It currently has around 70 trees of different species, among which the Ginkgo biloba or the Ginkgo biloba or the Pinus canariensis as well as other specimens over a century old.

Museum of Fine Arts of Granada

The Granada Museum of Fine Arts is located in the Palace of Carlos V, a Renaissance building attached to the Alhambra. The origin of this Museum of Fine Arts is due to the confiscation of Mendizábal (1837), which led to the dispersal of numerous works of art that had belonged to religious orders and that were collected in this place.

Palace of Carlos V, headquarters of the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada

After passing through several locations, in 1923 it was located in the Casa de Castril where it would share space with the Archaeological Museum and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In the XIX century, the opportunity was raised to recover the Palace of Carlos V as the headquarters of the Museum. The process was long: the On October 6, 1958, the Museum of Fine Arts of Granada was finally inaugurated in its new location on the first floor of the Palace of Carlos V, where it has remained ever since. The Museum underwent a recent reform that was presented in January 2008. It is currently managed by the Ministry of Culture of the Junta de Andalucía.

The Museum's collections are made up mainly of paintings and sculptures, from the 15th century to the XX. The largest and richest collections come from religious foundations disentailed in the 19th century. Later, works deposited by the Prado Museum have been added, as well as purchases, both examples of recent art and old masters. Among the oldest pieces, a replica of the sculpture of Santa María de la Alhambra stands out, which presided over the Puerta de la Justicia de la Alhambra, and of his pictorial works, the Bodegón del cardo, by Sánchez Cotan.

Museum of the Alhambra

Cover of the Museum of the Alhambra

The Museum of the Alhambra, also called the National Museum of Hispano-Muslim Art, is located in the south wing of the ground floor of the Palace of Carlos V in the Alhambra. It has existed since 1870 under the name of the Alhambra Museum. In it, the archaeological pieces provided by the Provincial Commission of Monuments were stored. From 1962 it took the name of the National Museum of Hispano-Muslim Art and in 1994 it changed its name again and was assigned to the Board of the Alhambra and Generalife, when it was moved and organized in accordance with the new museological requirements. It houses pieces of Hispano-Muslim art from the mid-VIII century to the last years of the Nasrid culture. It consists of seven rooms where the objects are distributed thematically and chronologically.

Other museums

In the city you can also visit the following museums: García Lorca Museum located in the Huerta de San Vicente; Manuel de Falla House Museum; Fundación Rodríguez-Acosta, unique Carmen with art deco and gardens; House of the Pisa Museum; Rodríguez-Acosta Museum; Sacromonte Interpretation Center; José Guerrero Center and Palace of the Counts of Gabia, which aims to promote modern / contemporary art.

Popular festivals

Holy Week

The Christ of the Gypsies for the Race of the Darro

As in other capitals, Holy Week in Granada becomes one of its most important religious-cultural and artistic events. These are popular religious manifestations that date back to the XVIII century, when there was a massive proliferation of trade unions, the vast majority, as in other parts of Spain.

Currently, having overcome various historical vicissitudes, Holy Week in Granada is made up of a total of thirty-two penitential brotherhoods united in the Royal Federation of Brotherhoods and Brotherhoods of Granada, who is in charge of organizing each one of the processions that take place from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday, both included.

Among the brotherhoods that arouse the most interest is, traditionally, the one popularly known as "the Gypsies", which holds a procession on Holy Wednesday, and where the brothers, mostly from that ethnic group, lead their members from the center to Sacromonte Abbey.

Corpus Christi

The Granada Fair is usually held in the month of June, although it does not have a fixed date because it is linked to the Catholic festival of Corpus Christi, which is linked to the dates of Holy Week, which in turn depend on those of the Jewish Passover, a lunar holiday and therefore variable each year. It was created by the Catholic Monarchs as a Major Festival after the reconquest of the city.

The fairgrounds are located in the Almanjáyar neighborhood. The booths for tapas are raised in the fairgrounds. In most of the booths you can taste dishes typical of the land, pucheros, choto al ajillo, fried fish, sardine skewers.

The fiesta includes three processions: one on Wednesday, another on Thursday morning, and the third on Sunday afternoon. On Wednesday the Pública starts, which is a procession aimed at children and young people, starring the Tarasca, a mannequin on a dragon that is supposed to wear the clothes that will be in fashion that season. Thursday, Corpus Christi day, is when the religious procession leaves in the morning. This Eucharistic procession leaves the Cathedral with the Plateresque monstrance on a cart decorated with flowers, accompanied by the civil authorities, representatives of brotherhoods and the public. The procession is preceded by giants and big heads that represent Moors and Christians. The procession that leaves on Sunday afternoon is more sober and lacks folkloric elements.

Toma de Granada

La Toma de Granada is a civic festival that takes place every year on January 2 to celebrate the surrender of the city to the Catholic Monarchs in 1492. The highlight of the day is the procession of the royal banner, together with the mayor of the city, the councilors and representatives of the Catholic Church and the Armed Forces. After that, the official entourage appears on the balcony of the town hall with the royal banner and a councilor shouts the name of the city three times, those present responding with "What!" in unison. The act ends with the phrase «For the illustrious Catholic Monarchs, Don Fernando II of Aragon and Doña Isabel I of Castilla. Long live Spain! Long live the King! Long live Andalusia! and long live Granada!", followed by the Spanish anthem.

This is a party that generates controversy year after year between supporters of its suppression and those who defend it.

San Cecilio

Saint Cecilio, patron saint of Granada, first bishop of the city and martyr of Christianity in charge of announcing the gospel and first archbishop of the city, in the Iberian Peninsula, whose remains were found with the Leady Books and they are in the Sacromonte abbey, erected as a result of those findings. His festivity takes place on February 1. In the city a pilgrimage to the Sacromonte and a mass in his honor take place.

Virgin of the Angustia

Our Lady of the Angustia, patron of the city

The Virgen de las Angustias is the patron saint of the city and its commemoration has two different acts: on September 15, a floral offering is made to the Virgin and on the last Sunday of September there is a procession through its central streets. In the official run of the procession, stalls selling typical foods of these days are set up, such as the traditional Tortas de la Virgen and many other sweets from Granada's gastronomy. Near the Las Batallas fountain there are typical fruit stalls: jujubes, acerolas, dried figs, grapes, custard apples, raisins.

May 3. Day of the Cross

The custom of erecting crosses on this festivity dates back to the beginning of the XIX century when in the neighborhoods of Albaicín and Realejo, they begin to build small altars with a cross, to exalt the festivity that is celebrated in the city on May 3 of each year, which is a local holiday. Currently, crosses are erected in many areas of the city by all kinds of cultural associations and a contest is held to reward those that are best built and decorated. The decoration stands out with brightly colored jarapas, Fajalauza earthenware and the presence of an apple or "but" pierced by a pair of scissors.

Music

Manuel de Falla (1876-1946), musical composer

Granada has a close relationship with music, both cultured and popular. The native music is the zambra, developed in the Sacromonte caves by the gypsy population. In this city, Manuel de Falla wrote all of his mature work, and one of his earlier works, the opera La vida breve , is set in Granada itself. At the beginning of the XX century, the city was visited by important musicians of the day, including Giuseppe Verdi, Maurice Ravel, Arthur Rubinstein, Mijaíl Glinka or Isaac Albéniz; these last two came to reside for a time in the city. For his part, Andrés Segovia spent part of his youth in the city, learning to play the guitar, and the Mexican composer and poet Agustín Lara was inspired by the musicality of Granada to create the most famous of his compositions, the song "Granada », unofficial hymn of the city, translated and sung in many languages and at major events by the best performers. In the 60s of the XX century, the Granada singer Miguel Ríos composed the song Vuelvo a Granada, which was a great success. In addition, every year the Granada International Music and Dance Festival is held, created in 1952 and offering an extensive program of concerts and shows.

Numerous outstanding artists in various genres are originally from Granada: Enrique Morente, Juan Habichuela and Marina Heredia, in flamenco; Miguel Ríos, 091, Lagartija Nick, Los Planetas, Niños Mutantes or Lori Meyers in rock; In addition to an important music scene of jazz (Nardy Castellini, Four Runners), blues (The Blues Band of Granada), Rap (Ayax y Prok, Yung Beef, Dellafuente) and classical music (with illustrious names on the current scene, such as conductors Pablo Heras-Casado and Miguel Ángel Gómez Martínez, the oboist Ramón Ortega Quero, the cellist Guillermo Pastrana or the soprano Mariola Cantarero, among others). The city has a professional symphony orchestra, the Orquesta Ciudad de Granada, as well as the hundred-year-old Banda Municipal de Música de Granada and various chamber and choir groups, as well as one of the few permanent jazz big bands in the country: La Granada. Big band. The city also stands out in the field of early music, as it is the venue for ensembles such as the Orquesta Barroca de Granada and the Ensemble La Danserye, of renowned prestige.

Scenic spaces

Currently, the city has several scenic spaces, standing out for their spaciousness and modernity the two spaces located in the Palacio de Exposiciones y Congresos de Granada, where the Carlos I Amphitheater has a capacity of 1,550 seats and the Sala García Lorca has On the other hand, the Manuel de Falla Auditorium has 1,214, the Isabel la Católica Municipal Theater has 662, the Federico García Lorca Center has 424 and the Alhambra Theater has 298. In addition, the Generalife Theater must be added, with 1,663 outdoor locations; the José Tamayo Municipal Theater, with 368 seats; the Isidoro Máiquez Theater of the CajaGranada Foundation, with 300 seats, and the Corral del Carbón, which presents the particularity of being the only alhóndiga from the Muslim period fully preserved in the entire Iberian Peninsula.

Gastronomy

Habas with ham, typical dish

The gastronomy of Granada is part of the tradition of Arab-Andalusian cuisine, 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 Traditional Cuisine of Granada, says that it has its origins in coexistence, from the 16th century XII to the XV (in which Granada surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs), of Muslims, Jews and Christians in the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada. Subsequently, there was a miscegenation with the cuisine of the Christians, in which pork became even more important in Granada's cuisine than in the rest of Spain, given that its consumption allowed one to show a certain distance from the persecuted religions, since both Muslims as well as Jews have it banned.

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

The famous ham of Trevélez is one of the star products of the Granada gastronomy

From the mountains of Granada comes the famous and renowned Trevélez ham, to which other derivatives of pork are added, sausages such as chorizo, blood sausage and loin. Ham and broad beans, two products of the land, they are combined in one of its most typical dishes, broad beans with ham; Other well-known dishes are the Sacromonte tortilla, which, among other ingredients, must have boiled brains and veal criadillas, chopped and sautéed before mixing with the egg. It is also worth mentioning the patatas a lo pobre, which are usually served with eggs and fried peppers, as well as pieces of pork or ham, just like migas con tropezones.

Among the stews and stews, it is worth highlighting the pot of San Antón, which is eaten mainly around the second half of January; the cabbage stew, which combines vegetables and legumes; the green bean stew and the fennel one; the thistle casserole and the pumpkin casserole, with noodles and aromatic herbs, or the gypsy stew are other local dishes. Typical of the Day of the Cross and the Day of San Cecilio are the saladillas with broad beans.

Pastries are well represented in the gastronomy of Granada, with sweets prepared by the nuns that can be purchased in the numerous convents of the city: pestiños from Vélez or those from La Encarnación, puff pastries from San Jerónimo, moles eggs from San Antón, Zafra sponge cake, sweet potato buns, cocas, Santo Tomas donuts and mantecados. Also soplillos, tartas de gloria, piononos from the nearby town of Santa Fe, or roscos from Loja, butter buns from Montefrío or tocinos de cielo from Guadix. Of Arab heritage are the aljojábanas, honey and cheese dumplings and some fritters called pillows, as well as fig bread, the Moorish rosco and an almond cake called soyá.

Unlike in other Spanish cities, in Granada tapas are free with the consumption of drinks. Tapas is a deeply rooted and traditional activity among the people of Granada and it always surprises and infects its visitors. There are different tapas routes around the city that allow you to enjoy the best of its cuisine.

Leisure and entertainment

Festival Cines del Sur

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

• Sacromonte's clutches. Former bridal parties that carried out the gypsies of the city, and which disappeared for years before their current claim. 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 restoration establishments are one of the city's cultural attractions.
• Festivals. Granada has a very complete offer of events: International Festival of Music and Dance, International Jazz Festival, Festival of Granada Films of the South and International Festival of Tango, among others.
• Concerts. Throughout the year there is a stable program of concerts in the Manuel de Falla Auditorium and performances of Theatre and Opera at the Palacio de Congresos.
• Party. Throughout the year, several parties are held on significant dates for religious, civil or cultural reasons.
• Youth life. For years the city has become a preferred place for young people for mass concentrations. The festivals of the Spring and of the Cross are the greatest expressions of the youth movement. The massive attendance of visitors to these festive concentrations has led the City Council to shield the city and ban alcohol intake in public spaces, except those expressly authorized.

Sports

Sports entities

The Estadio Nuevo Los Cármenes will have capacity for almost 23 000 spectators after its current refurbishment

Granada has federated sports clubs of a large number of sports that participate in the competitions of the different categories to which they belong, both national, regional or local.

Within the national competitions, the most prominent is the soccer team Granada C.F., which competes in the Santander League. The proximity to the Sierra Nevada Ski Resort favors that there is a lot of fans for this sport in the city and that there are two ski clubs sponsored by the Rural and La General Savings Banks.

Sports clubs

Among the sports clubs in the city, the following can be highlighted due to their facilities and sports in which they participate.

Sports events

Among the sporting events that are held in the city, the participation in university sports of the different university campuses that exist, the Municipal Sports Games of Granada, the City of Granada Half Marathon and being the origin or departure of some stage of the Cycling Tour of Spain and Tour of Andalusia.

In addition to this, it has been the official venue for the 1996 Alpine Ski World Championship, the 2002 European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship, Eurobasket 2007, the Futsal Euro Cup, the Spanish Futsal Cup, the Intercontinental Cup of Futsal and various national championships of different sports disciplines.

Granada was the official venue for the 2014 World Basketball Championship, where the Spanish National Team played their group stage matches.

In 2015 the 2015 Winter Universiade was held in the city and the ski resort of Sierra Nevada.

Sports spaces

The city of Granada is well equipped with sports facilities, since all the educational centers have some type of sports facilities to facilitate the practice of sports for their students. It should also be noted that the University welcomes the Faculty of Physical Activity and Sports Sciences. and the facilities managed by the Municipal Sports Board where most sports clubs hold their competitions because they do not have their own facilities.

Municipal sports facilities.

College sports complexes

• University Campus Fuente Nueva
• University Campus-Cartuja
• Faculty of Physical and Sport Sciences

In the arts and popular culture

The indie rock band Supersubmarina dedicates the song In Granada, from the album Electroviral, to this city. The song has become an unofficial Grenada anthem, popular with young people.

Honorary distinctions granted by the city

The titles, honors and decorations that, officially, are granted by the Granada City Council, in order to reward special merits, designated benefits or extraordinary services, are the following: titles of Favorite Son of the City of Granada, Adoptive Son of the City of Granada and Honorary Councilor of the City of Granada; the Gold Shield of the City of Granada, the Gold Granada and the Silver Granada; the Gold Medal of the City of Granada and the Silver Medal of the City of Granada; the Medal of Merit for the City of Granada in its modalities of gold, silver and bronze; the specific Medal of Merit of the Municipal Police Force and Medal of Merit of the Fire Department of the City of Granada, in their qualities of gold, silver and bronze; the Diploma of Merit for the City of Granada; the honorary title of Official Chronicler of the City of Granada; the name of a street in the City of Granada and its labeling with a name that is desired to remain on the public record. As a special honor, prominent visitors can be given the title of Guest of Honor of the City of Granada and the Keys to the City of Granada delivered.

Media

Quiosco in Bib-Rambla Square

Press

In the city you can buy the national, regional and international newspapers with the widest circulation, some of which include local information sections. At the local level, there is the newspaper Ideal, which is the one with the largest and oldest circulation published in Granada, belongs to the Vocento communication group and has an average circulation of 30,114 copies; and the newspaper Granada Hoy which belongs to the Andalusian regional group called Grupo Joly and has a circulation of 3,931 copies according to the data provided by OJD for the period July 2009-June 2010. a local edition of the free newspaper 20 Minutos is published. For its part, there is also a municipal (public) newspaper, not a daily, called Paso a paso.

Radio

In the city you can tune in to all the main radio stations that operate nationally and regionally, and it has local stations that broadcast spaces dedicated to local news when disconnected in different time slots: Radio Granada (Cadena SER), Canal Sur Radio, Cope, Onda Cero and Radio Nacional de España. There are also music and sports stations in the city of the most important Spanish channels.

Television

With the entry into operation of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT), the number of television channels has multiplied, both general and thematic and both free and paid platforms that Granada residents can access. At the local level, The following local and regional stations operate in (2010): TG7 (municipally owned) and Granada Televisión, as well as other channels linked to the press (La Opinión) or local companies.

Twin cities

Granada is currently twinned with the following cities:

Notable people