Elche, Spain - Huerto del Curo
Elche is known for the large groves of palm trees. Our bus tour started in Alicante (where the ship docked). We drove to Elche. The landscape of Elche is noted as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Palmeral of Elche, a landscape of groves of date palms, was formally laid out, with elaborate irrigation systems, at the time the Muslim city of Elche was erected, towards the end of the tenth century A.C., when much of the Iberian peninsula was Arab. The Palmeral is an oasis, a system for agrarian production in arid areas. It is also a unique example of Arab agricultural practices on the European continent. Cultivation of date palms in Elche is known at least since the Iberian times, dating around the fifth century B.C. (Source) We started at a beach area in Alicante. This was a very nice beach, lined with wide beaches and wide walkways. The housing section of the city had buildings with four to five stories. As we drove out of the city, the farming communities...