The Axarquia includes 31 white villages, called pueblos blancos, beautifully located between the hills planted with grapevines, olives, almonds, mangos and avocados. Festivals are an important part of life in southern Spain especially during the summer months when every village has its own “feria” (fair) and often they celebrate their own local produce. Thus, in Canillas de Aceituno, the celebration is around El Morcillo (the famous black pudding in the 2nd weekend in May), the coastal villages and towns including Torre del Mar, Caleta de Velez  Torrox and Nerja all celebrate  "El Noche de San Juan" on the 23rd June and on the 15 August Competa celebrates “El Noche y Dia del Vino”.

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What few people know is that all European avocados are of Andalusian origin, and that as many as eighty per cent come from the Axarquia. This is very lucrative for the region and in recent years we have seen that where there used to be cranes to build houses or apartments, increasingly there are now excavators at work to make room for farming the land again, especially for growing avocados. Where ever we drive, from El Borge, Almachar, Benamargosa or Competa and Algarrobo to the coast this is the case. Even on the way to Canillas de Aceituno there is a huge field in 'construction', therefore it provides a boom to the region because it means jobs for local people as well as making the landscape more attractive.

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