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This is a spectacular rugged and steep series of valleys and gorges, which have been softened and made more accessible by an astonishing number of stonewalled terraces, hundreds of kilometres of irrigation channels and ancient mule tracks. This terracing and especially the irrigation network are an engineering marvel, created mainly by the Berbers from North Africa who were the principal inhabitants here during the time of the Moors.
A not uncommon stone wall could be 3m high and only 30m long which would create a terrace for perhaps only 5 trees - almond or olive usually - water laid on!

Of course many terraces are far more extensive, allowing for cultivation of vegetables and fruits of all descriptions. The patchwork views that result are simply beautiful.
Mules are still the best way to get the produce to the roads, and the tracks are now also the basis for the hiking paths that abound in the area - some hard going and steep, others following the contour line, winding around gorges and streams, with many fuentes (springs) of cold water to drink. The GR7 hiking trail passes through the High Alpujarra as part of it's Europe wide route.

The Berber influence is also dominant in the style of architecture of the many small white villages which dot the steep slopes, connected by the mule tracks and now some roads. Some villages are amongst the highest in Europe.
Similar to the dwellings of the mountainous area of North Africa, the walls of the casas are very thick stone and earth, with massive Castano (chestnut) beams supporting the stone, earth and sand flat rooves.
Blocks of houses are interlinked, folding around each other, and fronting either narrow winding lanes or slightly wider winding roads. Animals often still live below, people above. Flowered terraces or balconies and small cultivated gardens celebrate the bounty of the land and the people, who are open and friendly and still slightly bemused by visitors.

Though the inhabitants now are descendants of colonists from the north of Spain who were brought in after the Moors were expelled, the Arab past is still alive in the ceramics, jewelry and weaving of the Alpujarras.