Alhambra

Give me Moor: Islamic tales, free tapas and terrifying Alhambra staff in glorious Granada

By Sarah Gordon
PUBLISHED: 10:15, 19 July 2012 | UPDATED: 15:36, 14 August 2012

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When King Boabdil was forced from his kingdom of Granada by the Catholic Reconquista in 1492, he is said to have stopped on a mountain path, looked back at the Alhambra palace one final time and shed a tear for what he had lost.

Confronted by a steely-eyed Spaniard, perched like a vulture at the entrance to the Alhambra’s Nasrid Palaces, I feel a similar urge to cry as I am barked at in front of a startled line of tourists, quietly pretending not to witness our exchange.

My crime? I am twenty minutes late for my timed visit to the most popular part of the palace complex. So much for the Spanish mañana culture.

The Red Fortress: The Alhambra palace is Spain's most iconic remnant of Moorish rule

When Boabdil broke down, his mother is said to have reproached him with the words: ‘Thou dost weep like a woman for what thou couldst not defend as a man.’

My vulture is not so poetic, her talons thrust my tickets back and me and I am told to return to the ticket office, explain why I am late and wait for my entry to be reissued.

The sentiment is more or less the same. ‘Thou dost complain about not being allowed in at 5.50pm, when thou didst buy tickets on Ticketmaster for 5.30pm.’

The Alhambra crowns a hill above Granada, a walled complex which for centuries was a symbol of the Moors’ domination of Spain. The first palace was built in the 11th century and multitude buildings have been added over hundreds of years by Islamic dynasties and, later, Christian conquistadors.

Up to 6,000 people pass through the serene gardens and ornate palaces each day in peak season, soaking up the sunshine, unparalleled views of the city and Islamic heritage, which is why it is important to buy a ticket in advance. And turn up on time.

Intricate: Detailed carvings transform the palace's stone surfaces into delicate works of art

When we finally make it into the Nasrid Palaces, they are well worth the contempt of the snappy bird of prey.

Spikey turrets scratch at the sky and every wall that is not graced by coloured tiles has been intricately carved with the words ‘There is no conqueror but God’.
Remnants of the red, blue and yellow paint that once adorned these surfaces is still visible in parts and stuccoed columns, marble water fountains and carved ceilings, so elaborate they look like paintings, recreate the lavish rule of the Moors in the 14th century – at an artistic peak, but on the cusp of political decline.
If there was ever any doubt about Spain’s mixed heritage, Granada is the city that maps out the Iberian Peninsula’s blend of Christianity and Islam.

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While Islamic Seville and Cordoba fell to the Catholics in the mid-13th century, Granada – meaning pomegranate in English – brokered an agreement to become an independent Islamic state in a deal that lasted until 1492, when an eight-month siege by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel forced Boabdil to give up his throne and make that long walk into exile.

Remnants of Moorish influence are ever-present in Spain, from quirks of the language (ojalá is a way of saying ‘with any luck’ and comes from the refrain ‘Oh Allah’), unpronounceable place names that have no base in Latin and those keyhole-shaped gateways that mark the entrance to medieval walled towns.

Eastern exoticism: The jumble of streets is filled with tea shops and stalls selling Moroccan-style wares

While in most areas this influence lurks in architecture and language, in Andalucía, it bubbles to the surface, eventually bursting forth in Granada as a mix of mint tea-selling teterías (tea shops), hubbly bubbly pipes and markets with a distinctly Moroccan flavour.

The stout cathedral may stand in the centre of the city, an ominous threat to anyone trying to remember Granada’s Islamic past, but just behind it a burrow of streets is packed with outdoor stalls selling silver tea sets, handmade rugs, pretty woven shoes and blood-red lamps and lanterns.

Add to this a youthful spirit – Granada is a university town – and a hippie vibe, created by the mix of gypsy influences and international travellers who come here to study, and you have a Moorish-Spanish city with an ambience that is very different to formal neighbour Seville, party-town Malaga and quaint Cordoba.

Escaping for a girls’ weekend, my friend Sanne and I spend hours tramping through the streets, haggling for rainbow-coloured clothing, clanging bracelets and leather belts, stopping only to refresh with mint tea, strawberry-flavoured hubbly bubbly and free food.
While Granada can’t really claim to be the home of flamenco – that honour goes to Seville – it is the capital of tapas.

It is said that barmen in Andalucía started giving out free bread and jamón as tapas (literally meaning lids) to cover customers’ beers and protect them from flies.

Back in time: The Alhambra offers views over the Albaicin, which is little changed since the 14th century, while the Alhambra Palace hotel recreates the lavish surroundings that Moorish rulers would have experienced

The tradition grew and has now been transported around the world as a restaurant concept, but only in Granada does the tradition of serving up free food with your drinks live on.

Along with our Alhambra-branded beer – surely sacrilege to the palace’s abstinent Islamic creators? – we are given meat stews, jamón, patatas bravas (potatoes with a spicy sauce) and montaditos (open sandwiches).

It’s not hard to burn off the indulgent dishes as Granada is a series of peaks and troughs. We spend hours walking around the Albaicín, the old Arab Quarter which clings to the hillside opposite the Alhambra and grew up in a tangle of narrow streets and topsy turvy buildings.

The oldest quarter of Granada, it is still lived in by locals, but also crammed with restaurants, bars and pretty shops run by long-haired hippies. At its pinnacle lies Mirador San Nicolás, a quaint plaza often graced with mournful guitar-strumming travellers and tourists taking photos of the mighty Red Fortress which stands proud with the Sierra Nevada in the background.
In the evening, after more free tapas, we make the hike back to the Alhambra, stopping just before its red walls at a hotel with architectural influences borrowed from its authentic Moorish neighbour.

Plaza with a view: Sarah and her friend Sanne pose for the iconic Alhambra photo taken from the Mirador San Nicolas

Where the imagination fails to fill the empty ornate rooms of the Red Fortress, the century-old Alhambra Palace hotel steps in. Keyhole-shaped doors filled with coloured glass, carved wooden furniture and wrought iron balustrades may not be historically correct in the strictest sense, but they certainly recapture the extravagance of Boabdil’s kingdom. No wonder aristocrats and royalty have chosen to stay here as they have visited over the years.

A terrace jutting out over the city completes the offering, the perfect spot to sip cool beers and watch the early evening shadows extend across the diminutive city below as the snow-capped peaks glint with the last rays of the setting sun.

Francisco Asís de Icaza, a Mexican poet who visited the city at the turn of the 20th century, famously wrote: ‘Dale limosna, mujer, que no hay en la vida nada como la pena de ser ciego en Granada.’

It translates as: ‘Give him alms, woman, for there is nothing sadder in life than being blind in Granada.’

The quote now lives on as a tile placed in a wall near the city’s cathedral.
But it is only when perched above Granada, taking in its sweeping panorama that you fully understand the meaning behind Asís de Icaza's words.

Travel Facts

Flights to Granada via Madrid (there are no direct flights) cost from £80 each way with Iberia (www.iberia.com 0870 609 0500).
LateRooms.com (www.LateRooms.com) offers accommodation at the four-star Alhambra Palace in Granada from £80 per night.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2175601/Granada-holidays-Islamic-tales-free-tapas-terrifying-Alhambra-staff-glorious-Granada.html#ixzz24Ai2g7GW