Elche in February

Elche is famous for its “Palmeral” - the largest palm grove in Europe and the palms are the first thing we notice arriving early (well, early for Spain – about half past nine), on Sunday morning. It’s an easy drive along the main road from Torrevieja, with lots of garden centres and plant producers on either side of the road, there are even some plantations of cactuses. At that time on a Sunday, it’s easy to park in the centre near the Parque Municipal, and we walk through that towards the centre although it’s still shady and chilly and the fountains aren’t working yet. We have a look inside the Basilica, where Mass hasn’t yet started and then go to the MAHE, the Archaeological and History museum of Elche. This is free to visit but the part we were most interested in – Palacio Altamira, is closed for renovation. The Archaeological museum is quite nice and there’s a copy of the ‘Dama di Elche’. 

The few things to see in Elche are mostly close together so back across the square near the Basilica we visit Torre Calahorra, a tower which was also a casa senoral. The house is nice, especially a couple of the rooms, and the windy staircase up to the terrace. Entry on a Sunday is free. Just across a tree-filled square from Plaza de la Merced there’s the ex-convent which houses the Banos Arabes. Free once again, they are small and we also visit the patio of the convent.

We’re starting to feel hungry, so Andrea finds Cafè El Salvador where we have two excellent chocolates with three churros and one porra fried to order. We eat outside, and a ray of sunshine arrives just as we are finishing. From there we walk onwards to the Palmeral ‘museum’ which is really a centro de intepretacion explaining the history of the palm groves and the use of the palms for dates and for the white palm leaves which are woven to make decorations.  The Palmeral dates from prehistoric times but reached its greatest splendour during the Muslim period since the Muslims laid out the palm trees in the form of orchards and vastly improved their cultivation. The area around the historic centre of Elche has over 200,000 palm trees and is known as the Historic Palm Grove. It was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO for its role in the transmission of culture from East to West, and for the survival of an exceptional watering system inherited from the culture of Al-Andalus. 

The temperature has increased as the sun makes headway so we go back towards the Palmeral or Municipal Park. It’s very attractive indeed, very well cared for, enormous palms and a number of other historical plants plus the several fountains are now working. 

We wander a little, then find a bench to eat some bread and cheese that I brought with us, and a banana. We don’t need lunch as such after the chocolate and churros. We then continue the other side of the road, more palm groves and the view to the empty river bed below, before returning to the car and driving back to base for more food and a rest.

Later we go for a walk along the beach. The sun is very pleasant but the wind is still cold.