Capileira is the highest and most northerly of the three villages in the

gorge A canyon (from ; archaic British English spelling: ''cañon''), or gorge, is a deep cleft between escarpments or cliffs resulting from weathering and the erosive activity of a river over geologic time scales. Rivers have a natural tendency to cu ...

of the Poqueira river in the La Alpujarra district of the

province of Granada Granada is a province of southern Spain, in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is bordered by the provinces of Albacete, Murcia, Almería, Jaén, Córdoba, Málaga, and the Mediterranean Sea (along the Costa Tropical ...

, in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

. It is located at

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north ...

36° 57' N and

longitude Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east– west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek let ...

3° 21' W, about 1 km north of Bubión. Its altitude is officially recorded as 1436 metres, though there is a considerable altitude difference between the oldest part of the village, which is at the lower, southern end, and the highest part, where tourist-oriented development is currently concentrated. The area of the municipality is 57 km². Although the Sierra Nevada Highway runs through Capileira and out across the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primar ...

towards the city of

Granada Granada (,, DIN: ; grc, Ἐλιβύργη, Elibýrgē; la, Illiberis or . ) is the capital city of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the c ...

, motor traffic is no longer permitted to continue across the mountains; Capileira is therefore the highest village that public traffic can reach, although you can continue to a car park where the national park begins and the road is barred to normal traffic. The national park runs a limited bus serviceMicrobus services in the Sierra Nevada
/ref> on the now-closed road (reservations handled by office in the village) in summer. A track leads northwards from the village to the abandoned settlement of La Cebadilla, built to house the workers who developed the hydro-electric installation at the upper end of the Poqueira Gorge. Capileira has developed a significant tourist trade, acting as a centre for

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an ' inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults ...

and for accessing the mountains especially

Mulhacén Mulhacén (), with an elevation of , is the highest mountain in peninsular Spain and in all of the Iberian Peninsula. It is part of the Sierra Nevada range in the Cordillera Penibética. It is named after Abu l-Hasan Ali, known as ''Muley Hac� ...

, generally treated as a two-day climb from Capileira with an overnight stop at a mountain refuge en route. A

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

route connects the village to Granada (via

Lanjarón Lanjarón is a municipality and town in the Alpujarras area in the province of Granada in Andalusia, Spain. Lanjarón has a ruined castle and chalybeate baths. This spa town is most famous, however, for its eponymous bottled water company, the ...

and Órgiva) and Alcútar (via

Trevélez Trevélez is a village in the province of Granada, Spain. Its population in 2011 was estimated at 823. The river Trevélez flows through the village. They are located in the western part of the Alpujarras region. Two of the highest mountains in ...

and Juviles); there were 3 services per day in each direction. The village has good facilities for visitors including a number of restaurants, a market on Saturdays, hotels and apartment blocks, but retains a typical Alpujarran character especially away from the main road. Its population in 2005 was recorded as 582 people, of whom 35 did not have Spanish nationality, most of them being citizens of other

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

countries. The village has a primary school but no secondary school. Capileira 2000.jpg, Capileira village

References

External links

Capileira
- Sistema de Información Multiterritorial de Andalucía

{{authority control Municipalities in the Province of Granada