Alpujarra Tours

Aims
Our objective is to maintain a low impact, sustainable business which employs local people, using locally sourced or home grown produce, allowing visitors the opportunity to sample traditional village life in a non-obtrusive manner, and to explore the hills and mountains along the ancient network of mule tracks, with zero or minimal effect on the fragile alpujarran eco-system.

At the start of each tour guests are fully briefed on different aspects of life in Spanish villages as well as given guidelines and suggestions to minimise damage to the environment out on the trails. Spanish customs and social mores (behaviour at Spanish fiesta for example) are discussed as well as the importance of water conservation and information about local farming and watering. Guests are given the opportunity buy local produce as well as given directions to important cultural or historic sites.

Economic responsibility
Everyone we employ lives within the village. The same is true of the builders and tradesmen we have worked with to restore several local houses. The bulk of our purchasing is done at the nearest market town, and we actively encourage our guests to visit local shops which offer wine, honey, olive oil, tapestry work, sun-dried foods, carpentry and ceramics all produced within the community. We offer information on local tapas bars and restaurants, and on the public transport available; for guests who make the very agreeable journey by train from Madrid we offer free collection from Guadix station.

Environmental responsibility
We maintain a 4 hectare finca, or local farm, working with local people and using traditional agricultural techniques. As such we are members of the watering community, an ancient, near sacred body responsible for the upkeep of the network of water channels without which the whole massif would quickly desertify. Our farm is recognised by the soil association as organic, using goat manure from the village and compost from kitchen leftovers. We are members of an organic growers group, and are active members of various pressure groups campaigning against unregulated intensive farming. All our properties are built from locally available materials, using magnesium clay (launa) as insulation over the beams of poplar trees grown for this purpose on our farm. We always remind our guests as to the sensitivity of the local environment, particularly with regard to the importance of saving water and avoiding fires, and through our English classes and contacts within the community maintain a constant effort to persuade other villagers to recycle; for example, it was through our campaigning that the village has its first bottle bank.

Social responsibility
Weary of constant complaint at the doors of the Town Hall, David entered local politics and has been Deputy Mayor and spokesman for the Socialist Party since May 2007. This provides a real opportunity to influence decisions made in the community and raise local awareness of the importance of controlled development and the opportunities that sustainable tourism is able to offer. We are currently in the early stages of an ambitious project to create the Foundation the Friends of the Alpujarra, which is a charity -based work creation scheme whose aim is to create 10 full time positions for the conservation and maintenance of the local landscape; guests will be given the opportunity to contribute via the Town hall.

Established now for ten years we are able to give informed commentary on local customs and cultural history. The differences between Spanish life and that of Northern European countries makes for interesting conversation (both with our guests and with the locals we employ) and guests are able to witness everything from local wedding celebrations and fiestas to local sausage making and the olive and almond harvest.