Skip to main content

Articles

Stories, history, and planning essays from Granada

Long-form editorial pieces written by resident correspondents — cultural deep-dives, food traditions, and practical planning essays for visiting the city.

Granada artisan crafts — taracea marquetry boxes and Fajalauza blue-and-green ceramics with pomegranate motifs at an Albaicín workshop

Featured

Granada Artisan Crafts: Taracea, Fajalauza Ceramics and Leather

Granada's taracea marquetry, Fajalauza ceramics, leather goods, and luthiery trace directly to Nasrid workshop traditions. A guide to finding the real thing.

Read article
The narrow lanes of the Alcaicería in Granada — horseshoe arches and hanging lanterns above craft stalls selling taracea woodwork and fajalauza ceramics

Granada's Markets: A City's History Told Through Trade

From a Nasrid silk monopoly to Sunday flea markets, Granada's five markets map the city's history. Where to go, what's worth buying, and what each reveals.

Read
Calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcón in Granada at dusk — students on bar terraces, free tapa plates and beer glasses on outdoor tables, warm evening light on university quarter buildings

Granada's University District: Student Life, Bars & Culture

Granada's universidad quarter has 60,000 students, €2 beers on the main bar strip, free tapas, and a university founded in 1531. Here's how to explore it.

Read
The Court of the Myrtles reflecting pool in the Nasrid Palaces, Alhambra, Granada, a central element of the alhambra water system with the Comares Tower reflected in still water

The Alhambra's Water System: Engineering of the Nasrid Palaces

The Alhambra's water system is a 760-year-old feat of engineering. Acequia Real aqueduct, fountain mechanics, and the theology of water in Nasrid design.

Read
Interior of the Alhambra's Nasrid Palaces, Granada — ornate muqarnas ceiling and horseshoe arches, the palace handed over by Boabdil, last Moorish king, in 1492

Boabdil: Last Moorish King of Granada

Boabdil surrendered Granada on 2 January 1492, ending 781 years of Moorish rule. Who was the final Nasrid sultan — and how does Granada still remember him?

Read
Stone pomegranate carvings above the Puerta de las Granadas arch in Granada, the granada pomegranate symbol against carved Renaissance stonework

Granada's pomegranate symbol: from conquest to convergence

The granada pomegranate symbol still sits in Spain's royal coat of arms. Why a fruit? The answer runs from Islamic paradise to Ferdinand's trophy heraldry.

Read
Hall of the Two Sisters in the Nasrid Palaces of the Alhambra, Granada, with muqarnas stalactite vault and arabesque stucco walls, built under Nasrid dynasty sultan Muhammad V

The Nasrid Dynasty: Granada's 260-Year Islamic Kingdom

The Nasrids ruled Granada from 1232 to 1492, building the Alhambra while every other Moorish kingdom fell. Their story of diplomacy, art, and collapse.

Read
The Torre de la Vela of the Alhambra's Alcazaba at dusk, Granada, the tower where Ferdinand's standard was raised on 2 January 1492, marking the end of the Reconquista

The Reconquista and the Fall of Granada in 1492

On 2 January 1492, Granada surrendered, ending 781 years of Moorish rule. The Reconquista, the siege of 1491, and the Granada Capitulations explained.

Read
Why Granada tapas are free — a bar counter in Granada showing jamón legs hanging from ceiling, free tapa plates and wine glasses lined up, traditional bodega interior in warm evening light

Why Granada Tapas Are Free: The History Behind the Tradition

Granada is one of the last cities in Spain where every drink comes with a free tapa. The real history, the unwritten rules, and the best bars to find it.

Read