Cuevas del Almanzora

What a wonderful day! It was like somebody laid out a mystery in front of us, and then slowly revealed the answer in tantalizing pieces with one grand denouement. We started our walk wondering how people were making a living in this dry, dry part of Spain. There were more orchards and crops along today’s backroad, and then once over the crest of the hill separating the city of Vera from Cuevas del Almanzora, the whole landscape of the huge area drained by the Rio Almanzora opened out in front of us. There were a few of the tall, tent-like invernaderos (greenhouses) that we’ve seen hundreds of near Almeria, but most of the landscape was covered with what looked like parallel lines of giant white caterpillars. And then we came to the exciting part: a tractor was laying out the white lines right before our very eyes. Here’s how it’s done. First, the crop is planted in long rows, protected by black plastic laid directly on the ground to keep the weeds down. Then hoops about 2 feet high are driven into the ground along the row. Finally a tractor with rolls of plastic and a special machine on the back lays plastic over the hoops, while at the same time dredging up dirt from the sides of the row to cover over the edges of the plastic so they can’t be caught by the wind. (Watch for the little wheels doing this job in the video.)

Now we are resting up, so we can go out and watch one of the Semana Santa processions tonight.Read more