This verdant swathe of fruit orchards and market gardens stretches from Almuñécar, along both sides of the fertile Rio Verde valley and up into the lower mountain foothills, terminating around the area of Otívar.

The Tropical Valley is principal agricultural centre of the area, producing a large proportion of the local subtropical fruits and vegetables. Most farms are smallholdings, family-run and still cultivated by hand.

There's one road that runs along the valley, called either the Carretera a Jete, the Carretera Suspiro del Moro or the Carretera Antigua de Granada (old road from Granada). It leaves Almuñécar by the fountain on the Carrera de la Concepción, passing under the N340 bypass, through the district of San Sebastián and then heads towards Torrecuevas (another district) and the villages of Jete and Otívar. It then continues up the mountain and on to Granada. Part of the high climb travels along a winding corniche which is truly spectacular but not for those who suffer from vertigo.

Urban development along the valley has so far been restricted to a string of businesses and houses which border the road as far as Torrecuevas, and the two relatively contained villages of Jete and Otívar higher up the river. Otherwise most properties in the area are still small cortijos, or farmhouses, dotted around the hillsides.

Points of interest include sections of the magnificent Roman aqueduct which you can see on the outskirts of town, along the Rio Seco and in Torrecuevas.

Also see Excursions / Tropical Valley
Food and Drink / Subtropical Fruits
Sightseeing / Aqueduct

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