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Almáchar AREA: 14,30 km² ALTITUDE ABOVE SEA LEVEL: 229 metres AVERAGE ANNUAL RAINFALL: 560 l/m² AVERAGE ANNUAL TEMPERATURE: 16’5 ºC POPULATION, CENSUS 1994: 2,038  
Almáchar rises over a small hill between the Borge and Almáchar rivers, in the heart of the labyrinth landscape of the Axarquía mountains. Surrounded by vineyards, olives and cereals, it stretches its lands by the bowl of the river Almáchar, from the Almachar low ridge (334 m.) to the Vallejo peak (609 m.) to the south. The farmhouses stand out with their typical hillsides where the grapes are laid out to dry, later to be turned into raisins, as well as their plots by the river banks which ascend in vegetable patches, citrus and fruit groves up to the edge of the town. The best panoramas are seen from the town square looking towards the town of El Borge. The origins of the town would have to be found in the times of the Arabs, who named it and means - prairie place. In the 16th century, according to the chronicles, various families dedicated to pasture lands occupied the area when the Moors abandoned the lands. The legend relates that under one of the town’s fountains, near the river Almáchar, there is a cave where the Moors buried an important treasure before they were expelled. There is another legend that relates that the Cristo de la Banda Verde or Misericordia saved some sailors who were shipwrecked in front of the coasts of Málaga.
The most singular building is the parish of San Mateo, built in the centre of the town in the 16th century under the Gothic-Renaissance sytle canons. At the end of one the naves, there is a cabin dedicated to the Dolorosa and in the presbytery there is another Baroque cabin with the image of the Cristo de la Misericordia, or Cristo de la Banda Verde. On the outside of the church there is a Mudejar style square tower. Outside the town there is a place of archaeological interest which is the Cueva del Toro (cave of the bull).
There is an iron forge workshop in Almáchar.
Among all the singular dishes from this town, there is the
'ajoblanco' which has such deep-rooted popularity since 1967, that every year, an exalted
celebration takes place at the beginning of September for this exquisite kind of
'gazpacho' cold soup. Other popular products are the muscatel wine, yellow soups, cabbage,
stew, gazpacho, etc.
The calender of fairs and festivities starts on the 3rd of May, day of the Cross, but which in Almáchar does not correspond to the traditional celebrations which take place in other locations of Malaga, but refers to the Santo Cristo of the Banda Verde. At Easter there are processions with the patron saints, San Blas and Nuestra SEñora del Amparo and the above mentioned Cristo. On Good Friday, a play called "Los Armaos" is performed by the youngsters of the town acting out the Passion in an interval during the processions. The pilgrimage takes place on the 15th of May for San Isidro, and in September, as in many other towns, there is the Candlemas. The main fair or patron saint's fair takes place on the 29th of July.
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HISTORY AND LANDSCAPE
Places to visit
Shopping
Gastronomy
FESTIVITIES AND TRADITIONS