Area
Casa de Luz (House of Light) is near the edge of Pitres which is more of a small town than a village. It was once the Moorish "capital" of the Alpujarras and is today the administrative centre for La Taha, the local region comprising 8 villages.
A very Spanish town, it has several bars, restuarants,a very good vegetarian restuarant El Jardin, hotel, good supermarket, health food shop, bank, clinic, pharmacy and a few other shops. Friday mornings are market days in the plaza where all fresh produce, clothes and crafts can be bought. Prices in Spain are generally very good- you will definitely be happily surprised at the cost of a meal, wine, beer and food in shops, and prices and size of tots in bars, where you will generally still get a free 'tapa' with each wine or beer ordered! Tapas can vary from olives and cheese or ham, to generous small plates of pork stew or paella - there is a big range and they reflect Alpujarrean cuisine (which helps when you are faced with the unknown on a menu). A few drinks have often supplied a free meal.
Pitres has avoided becoming a tourist mecca, which has happened to a few of the villages in the High Alpujarra - on the positive side their more active night life can be enjoyed after a short drive. Flamenco and live music concerts (jazz, world music, classical) are regular events in summer. Pitres itself one night had the Nottingham Symphony Orchestra playing in the plaza - amazing, to say the least.
A great advantage of being in Pitres is that it is in the centre of the High Alpujarras and many of the best walks pass through or near it.
Further afield, the city of Granada with the Alhambra Palace and old Moorish streets is only 1hr20m by car. The same time to the Costa Tropical with its beautiful beaches (quite a few nudist), beach bars/seafood restuarants and great swimming.
Even further, for those with the time, are the historic cities of Cordoba (3hrs) and Sevilla (5hrs), or the golf spots and flesh pots of the Costa del Sol- Malaga is 2h30m away.
In winter the ski resort of the Sierra Nevada, where the World Alpine Ski Championships of 1996 were held, near to Granada, is only 1h30m away. This resort has the most days of sunshine of all the resorts in Europe.
All over Andalucia, which is Spain's largest and historically most interesting province, the exploring type can discover a lot of interesting places.
