Valle de Lecrín

Lecrin Valley Valle de Lecrín (Spanish)
Comarca
Location in the province of Granada and Andalusia.
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Andalusia
Province	Granada
Capital	Dúrcal
Municipalities	List Albuñuelas, Dúrcal, Lecrín, Nigüelas, El Padul, El Pinar, El Valle, Villamena
Population  (2006)
• Total	22,497
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)

The Lecrin Valley (Spanish: Valle de Lecrín, Spanish pronunciation: [ˈβaʎe ðe leˈkɾiŋ]) is a comarca in the center-south part of the province of Granada, Andalusia, southern Spain. This territory borders the Vega de Granada to the north, the Alpujarra Granadina to the east, the Costa Tropical to the south, and the Alhama to the west.

Lecrin derived from Arabic Iqlim, meaning "gateway": this refers to a small area of land situated between the villages of Mondújar and Talará, which controlled the access to the vast coastal areas of sugar production in Moorish times.

The Lecrin Valley consists of eight municipalities, of which the most populous is El Padul, and the largest is Albuñuelas, the latter being also the least populated. On the other hand, the municipality with the smallest area is Villamena. Its traditional and historical capital is the town of Dúrcal.

Apart from Dúrcal and Padul, agriculture and farming remain the principal occupation with pine, citrus, almond, olive and grape as the main crops. In more recent times, it has become a destination for Spanish and international holidaymakers looking for a quiet holiday amongst the orchards, but with easy reach to the Moorish city of Granada and the Costa Tropical. It is also an increasingly popular destination for walkers, bird watchers, cyclists and artists.

The Lecrin Valley is known for its verdant landscape (due to the melt-water run off from Sierra Nevada) and its views to lake Beznar and up to the Sierra Nevada mountains, its walks, birdlife and spring colours.

Map of the Lecrin Valley.

Municipalities

This comarca consists of the following municipalities:

	Municipality	Area (km2)	Population (2023)	Density (/km2)	Council (2011)	Capital	Parishes
	Albuñuelas	140.05	785	5.61	PP	Albuñuelas	La Loma
	Dúrcal	76.63	7,233	94.39	PP	Dúrcal	Marchena
	Lecrín	40.49	2,258	55.77	PSOE	Talará	Acequias, Béznar, Chite, Mondújar, Murchas and Peloteos
	Nigüelas	30.93	1,228	39.70	PSOE	Nigüelas	–
	El Padul	89.15	9,436	105.84	PSOE	El Padul	El Puntal
	El Pinar	38.01	867	22.81	PP	Pinos del Valle	Acebuches and Ízbor
	El Valle	25.84	936	36.22	PSOE	Restábal	Melegís y Saleres
	Villamena	20.18	986	48.86	PSOE	Cozvíjar	Cónchar
	Total	461.28	23,729	51.44

Road access

Tin Bridge, in Dúrcal.

Church of Santa María la Mayor, in El Padul.

Halfway between the city of Granada and the Costa Tropical, this comarca is traversed from North to South by the A-44 (Bailén-Motril) motorway, which serves all municipalities with the following ways out:

• 144: El Padul, Otívar.
• 153: Cónchar, Cozvíjar, Dúrcal, Albuñuelas.
• 157: Dúrcal, Nigüelas.
• 159: Lecrín, El Valle.
• 164: Pinos del Valle, Lanjarón, Béznar
• 169: Ízbor-Acebuches.

Other notable roads are: N-323, an old road that connected Bailén with Motril, connecting the cities of Jaén and Granada with the coast; A-4050, popularly known as Carretera de la Cabra, which links the mountain port of El Suspiro del Moro with Almuñécar to the west; and A-348, which connects the entire Alpujarra Granadina with the highway.