History on the Costa Tropical

When you have mastered the Spanish language a little it is useful to find out about the history relating to the region, from the locals and it can be fascinating to find out about the culture many years ago.

The Coast line of the Costa Tropical was originally the poor relative to the mountain villages , very astonishingly. Going back around 40-50 years the main villages were in the mountains and they where rich with an abundance of fruit including figs, grapes, olives, apricots, almonds and also olive oil. These small Alpuajarran villages were thriving and the coastal villages were only just surviving. Hence the population of the mountain villages compared to the coastal villages was considerably more.

In exchange for the fish that the villages on the coast could offer people would barter their goods.

Most of the fish was taken by mule up into the mountains with many locals walking for hours and hours. Upon arrival of the fish in the villages there was obviously no power hence no fridges,  so the people stored the cool foods in a special room in clay containers know as “Orza’s”. This kept the food relatively cold and allowed them to enjoy it at their leisure.

Interesting times!