Moments in Time Photography by Keith Gooderham

Andalucia

Spain is a vast, diverse and intriguing country and perhaps this richness and variety is no where better seen than in the region of Andalucía in the very far south of Spain. Along the Mediterranean coast are the all too familiar tourist honey pots of Malaga, Torremolinos and Marbella but inland there is another Spain, a land of high mountains frequently snow capped in winter, studded with white painted villages; the central plain with its fields of sunflowers, corn and of course orange and olive groves all growing in the dark red soil typical of the region. Then there are the great historic cities of Granada, Cordoba, Seville, Jerez and Cadiz with their blend of Moorish and Christian architecture and culture. But while history and tradition still hold strong in Andalucía it is by no means stuck in the past and it can at times be disconcertingly modern. By modern I don’t only mean the pounding night clubs of the beach resorts but rather the ever growing road system which has totally transformed the region since Spain joined the EU, the ever expanding housing schemes and above all in the way Andalucía’s most abundant resource, sunshine, is being exploited at every opportunity. There are even fields of solar panels as energy replaces oranges and olives as the crop of choice. Most spectacular of all the futuristic solar power stations at Sanlúcar la Mayor near Seville (see the following link for more information: www.abengoasolar.com/sites/solar/en/our_projects/solucar/index.html). In addition, seemingly every ridge has its crop of wind turbines; what Don Quixote would have made of such foe can only be imagined!The diversity of Andalucía is further enriched by the climate which changes both with altitude and the season, ranging from the cool, wet and if you are high enough snowy winters, to the lush green springs and the profusion of flowers and blossom in the valleys while the Sierras remain snow capped, and then the long hot dry summers where all but the toughest and most well established plants die. Summer is followed by the “little spring” as the autumn rains bring a return of life giving a welcome flush of green and flowering before winter puts things on hold once more. Click on the individual thumbnails to see a larger version of each photo or to select the slide show option.