Canillas de Albaida

View of Canillas de Albaida

Canillas de Albaida is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. The municipality is situated approximately 50 kilometres from Málaga and 2.5 kilometres from Cómpeta. It has a population of approximately 800 residents. The natives are called Canilleros. The village sits on the edge of the Sierra Almijara and the Sierra Tejeda national parks both of which are havens for wildlife and walking. The highest point is La Maroma which has an altitude of 2068 metres above sea level. The village is one of several typical Andalucian 'Pueblos Blancos' (white villages) which ring the edge of the national parks.

The village has seen considerable growth and renovation after the millennium, as a result of an increase in tourism and the number of ex-patriot residents from northern Europe. There are restaurants and shops. Three hotels has been established after 2000 and the road leading to the coast has been paved and widened.

The staple industry here is agriculture, the principal crops being avocados ("agaucates"), raisins and wine from moscatel grapes, and olives. Kitchen vegetables are also grown extensively on ancient irrigated terraces, for local sale and consumption. Farming is mostly done by hand, the only significant "machinery" being mules which are used as beasts of burden and for ploughing. The arrival of a more modern community has not obliterated the traditional lifestyle of the village and its surroundings.

Canillas is now also an increasingly well-known centre for hill walking. Routes having been developed in recent years mainly by Peter Strange and Phil Lawler, based on old out-of-use mule trails which have existed for centuries. Being on the very edge of the national park of the Sierras Sierra Nevada National Park (Spain), Tejeda and Almijara, the town is ideally placed for this activity.