Costa del Sol Towns
Other names have been “Mounted After the Sun,” “Air and
Sun,” the “Snow,” and “Frost of the Sierra.” Since the 18th century it has been
called the way it is now: Sierra Nevada.
During the 16th century was the scene of the Rebellion of
the Alpujarras. The 18th century later marks the beginning of various
expeditions, which, influenced by the spirit of the Enlightenment, began to
systematically explore the mountains.
Marques de la Ensenada stands responsible for this
exploration, which was followed by other leading scientists, especially
botanists, biologists, and geologists. They began to describe its most
important works in their natural heritage.
Sierra Nevada History and Origin of the Name
There are references to the Sierra
Nevada since ancient times. In the first century Pliny the Elder
mentioned of the existence of solarius mountain on the border between the
provinces of Roman Hispania and Betica Tarraconense.
During the Visigothic period, Isidore of Seville Solorio
spoke of the mountain from “Oriens mont,”
the mount where the sun shines before exiting. Subsequently, several authors
mention Islamics calling Sierra Nevada “Jbal Sulayr” (Mount of the Sun or Air),
“Tay-al-Jabal” (Mount
Snow), and others simply
“Sulayr Mount.”
In 1986 Sierra Nevada was declared a UNESCO Biosphere
Reserve, and in 1989 Sierra Nevada was declared a Natural Park
by the Parliament of Andalusia due to the unique plants, animals,
geomorphology, and landscape. The 24th World Championships in Alpine skiing was
hosted in Sierra Nevada in 1996.
Subsequently, the Parliament of Andalusia Autonomous
proposed its declaration as a national park on January 3, 1999.
During the 19th century, writers such as Washington Irving
were in the vicinity. At the end of the century, Angel Ganivet, then consul of Spain in Finland,
said in one of his writings that Sierra Nevada
could become the Andalusian Finland due to the existence of snow for more than
six months per year.
In the 20th century the British writer Gerald Brenan and
Hispanics were also in the vicinity, dedicating work to the south of Granada to immortalize the most significant regions of the
Sierra Nevada, Alpujarra
