Hundreds of years using an ecological and sustainable irrigation system

An Acequia (ditch) is an open canal built for water supply and irrigation. Of Arab origin, its main use is the irrigation of the field. Taking advantage of the orography of the land, a network of branches is formed from the main ditch that distributes and conducts water through the towns of Sierra Nevada.
For centuries, ditches have marked the lives of its residents and the development of ecosystems. Mainly, they have allowed the survival of the flora and fauna of this area. And thanks to them, the presence of endemic and endangered species has increased. Almost 1000 km add up the ditches in the Sierra, making this historical system of ecological and sustainable irrigation, one of the most extensive and best preserved in Spain.

Only around the Monachil river, we find up to 14 ditches. All drink from the rivers and from the mountain waters of the thaw. In turn, they feed back the process. They also renew the aquifers as they collect the thawed snows to infiltrate them in the ground so that they come out below. Thanks to this sustainable form of water use, in Monachil we have 2000 of the 8000 varieties of plants registered in the Iberian Peninsula.

The care and protection of the environment are very present in the philosophy of the boutique hotel La Almunia del Valle. From the beginning, respect and integration into the environment have been our key objectives.

This year, we proudly received the award for environmental commitment granted by the City of Monachil. In our small haven of peace, you can see first-hand how this irrigation system works by ditches. If it wasn't for this infrastructure, none of us could enjoy the olive oil of our harvest. Neither of the fruit of our trees nor of the aromatic herbs that we use daily in our kitchen. We all know, water in Andalusia is a scarce resource.

From this charming hotel in Andalusia, you can enjoy sustainable tourism. In the Cahorros route and in many others that you can make from here, you will see that the ditches are great protagonists of the area. Surely, many of you had never realized that they were there.

We invite you to help us keep them clean and taken care of. Let's try they continue feeding the Vega de Granada for many, many more years.[wp_posts_carousel template="compact.css" post_types="post" all_items="10" show_only="id" exclude="" posts="" ordering="asc" categories="" relation="and" tags="" show_title="true" show_created_date="true" show_description="false" allow_shortcodes="false" show_category="true" show_tags="false" show_more_button="true" show_featured_image="true" image_source="thumbnail" image_height="100" image_width="100" items_to_show_mobiles="1" items_to_show_tablets="2" items_to_show="4" slide_by="1" margin="5" loop="true" stop_on_hover="true" auto_play="true" auto_play_timeout="1200" auto_play_speed="800" nav="true" nav_speed="800" dots="true" dots_speed="800" lazy_load="false" mouse_drag="true" mouse_wheel="true" touch_drag="true" easing="linear" auto_height="true" custom_breakpoints=":"]