Costa del Sol Towns
Los Pepones is a village within themunicipality
ofVelez-Malaga, in theprovince ofMalaga,. Pepones is located in the west
of the town To access the village you must take the provincial road MA-3112,
which connects El Borge with Velez-Malaga, and then follow the signs at the
crossing of KM.6.
The village consists of more than 30 houses, which are
inhabited mainly by people from the area, although there is a joining of
neighbors from surrounding municipalities. The nerve center is the church, and
around it are the majority of the houses.
It differs also in another urban area west of the city
center, known by the people of Pepones as “The Cottage high” or “Cortijo de Patarra”; it housed a dozen
homes and some individual factories.
Los Pepones is located very close to theAlmachar River,
at an altitude of 150 m above sea level at its central area. It is located in
the Jibaros and surrounded by mountains, including the Cerro Patarra (475m).
History
“Los Pepones” was named after a landowner, Manuel S. Pepones,
who supported these landsAlmachar
River. A Muslim doctor
from the nearby town of Iznate suggested that this area is really where
Spanish-Jewish philosopher Maimonides was born, in his view as the birth of
such a thinker (reflected in several chronic) occurred at the “Atalaya Low”,
which was known to a destroyed tower located 1.5 km southwest of the nucleus Peponesero.
However, this doctrinal-historical view has not been made
official in any historical source. Regarding the Atalaya Baja, as mentioned
above, there is logistical and archaeological evidence, such as large amounts
of eroded river stones and debris of bricks and tiles, from which one can see
the old fortresses of Iznate, Benthomiz, Fortaleza de Velez, Fortress Zalia,
Comares, the old Castle, and the Tower Atalaya Santopitar and several lookout
towers between Torre del Mar and Torrox Costa.
Since these remains are the second defensive belt of
Axarquia, they interconnected in a visual way the points mentioned above.
Business
The economy of Los Pepones focuses on the primary sector
(agriculture subtropical) being the main products: avocados, mangoes, and
almond, olives, and vines (the latter in extinction).
The per capita income of the people Pepones has increased
substantially in recent years, thanks to the proliferation of subcultures and
the extinction of other crops with lower profitability.
However, it is estimated that the per capita income of Los
Pepones (around €11,000 per year) is still below the average municipal income
(€12,953.39), and, therefore, below the average of the community of Andalusians
as a whole.
The unemployment rate in Los Pepones is around 25%, with an
area of the municipality with a greater amount of unemployment (the municipal
authority has to ensure 22%), which is also above average forAndalusia
(which has a rate of 19%) and above the Spanish average (whose unemployment
rate is less than 10%).
The dependence of the people in Los Pepones ensures the
community has not received any development policy by institutions, while they
have contributed money to the upkeep of the City Council.
All this has recently born an independent and critical
attitude to the municipality in a matter of public opinion, but that opinion
has not been proven in any political formation.
