Short break walking holidays in Andalucia

Sustainable Tourism Policy
We recognise that the environment, the community and the culture within which we operate and our relationship with local organisations, businesses and individuals is vital to the success of our business. We therefore commit in the long term to:

• Minimising the direct environmental impact of our operations and being proactively involved in activities that work to protect the natural environment.
• Working with our customers and other relevant interested parties, to understand and respect the needs of local people and our suppliers.

In support of the above we will work to:

• Support our local economy by bringing business to an area of high unemployment, particularly during the winter months
• Support community tourism initiatives in our village to bolster people’s pride in their culture
• Walk only in small groups (usually 10-15) to minimise the impact on the environment
• Use locally owned traditional accommodation
• Raise the awareness of this policy amongst our customers and suppliers
• Use wherever possible organic fruit and vegetables or locally grown produce in season
• Inform our customers of the history and culture of our area
• Always behave in an environmentally responsible manner, for example take litter home with us; stay on well marked paths and discourage the picking of wild flowers.

Community:
One of the main attractions of our holidays is the opportunity to stay in a traditional Spanish village where the local people are very welcoming. This is because we work very closely with our local community and we bring considerable business to the local shops, restaurants and home owners particularly in the winter time. This is particularly important in a part of Spain where unemployment is very high particularly during the quieter winter months when there are less visitors.

We also encourage our clients to visit tourist attractions in Andalucia including the Alhambra at Granada and thus support the wider Andalucian economy. We use only local guides and leaders and those employed by us are fully trained. We talk to our clients before and during walks to remind them about taking litter with them, not to take or damage plants or flowers, to stick to footpaths and tracks at all times and to be extremely careful about fire hazards.

Environment:
Our group sizes tend to be small (10-15 people) and we always stick to way marked paths in order to limit damage to the wider environment. Our base – Finca la Paz – has solar water heating panels and we produce a range of organically grown foodstuffs for our lunches and picnics, supplemented where necessary by fruit and vegetables bought from the local street market, thus using locally grown, in season produce wherever feasible. We recycle all our food waste, either via the mule (as manure for using on the land) or by composting. At Finca La Paz we support local animal charities and have adopted a number of animals over the last five years.