Subbetica

UNDERSTORY OF THE GENIL RIVER

UNDERSTORY OF THE GENIL RIVER

Ribera con vegetación exuberante, tarajes y álamos centenarios, y huertas históricas enriquecidas por crecidas, ofrecen un paisaje natural y cultural único.

The River Genil is the municipality’s main waterway and the most important tributary of the Guadalquivir. The Genil flows through the municipality from east to west, following a distinct meandering course and cutting deeply into the landscape; in its western half, it is flanked by rugged terrain and extremely steep slopes in some sections.

Lining the riverbed is its riparian vegetation, consisting mainly of large, lush stands of broom and tamarisk, forming the unique grove of the River Genil.

The centuries-old tamarisk, alder, elm and poplar trees of the river grove, as it flows through Benamejí, are undoubtedly its main natural monument, forming a series of landscapes where natural and man-made vegetation blend together.

The lush vegetable gardens, created by human hands on the alluvial plains and enriched by the river’s floods—which once occurred during the rainy season and thaw—and supplied by an irrigation system of great ethnological interest, are another attraction of this place.