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On this page you will find local information about what is going on in and around Castril, Huescar and the surrounding Altiplano de Granada.

Scroll down the page or click on the links below to find information about :-

Summer Climate
Local Fiestas
Local Activities
Local Flora and Fauna
Local Classified
Local Services
Local Places of Interest

Up and coming Fiestas

15th August - National holiday – Assumption of the Virgin Mary

14 and 15 August - Huescar - Fiesta Virgen De la Cabeza

Every year in August in Huescar, the Fiesta of the Virgin de la Cabeza takes place. On the evening of the 14 August there is a large fiesta , with music and dancing, in the main square. The following morning at 7 o’clock a statue of the virgin is carried from Huescar to a church close to the San Clemente Lake. All the people from the town follow the procession. The route is long and obviously very hot, but everybody from the town likes to make this journey. Once at the church there is a mass and then everyone eats out in the countryside.

Local Classified

Horse for Sale 1500 Euros for more info please call 958 742 622 or 670 850 930 or email wendy@oldfarmhousesgranada.co.uk

Local Activites

www.sierracastril.com if you wish to take part in Cycling, Mountain biking, Walking, Rock Climbing, Canyoning or bird watching with a qualified and experienced guide.

Local Flora and Fauna

This area of Spain is a birdwatchers dream and a common sight in the skies over Castril, Huescar and the Altiplano are the huge numbers of vultures. Known as the Griffon vulture, in Spanish it is called the Buitre Leonado (Gyps fulvus).

The Griffon is 95-110 cm long with a 230-265 cm wingspan, and it weights
between 6 and 10 kg. A typical vulture in appearance it has a white bald
head, very broad wings and a short tail. It has a white neck ruff and yellow
bill. The body is buff in colour and wing coverts contrast with the dark
flight feathers. Like other vultures it is a scavenger, feeding mostly from
carcasses of dead animals which it finds by soaring over open areas. They
are Old World Vultures and use there sight to locate food rather than their
sense of smell. As one sees food and drops from the sky the rest soon
follow.

It breeds on crags in mountains in southern Europe, North Africa and Asia.
Forming loose colonies, being the most social of vultures and
non-territorial. They often mate for life staying close to home and not
migrating. Nesting high in the crags, with nests built of twigs and grass
and much excrement. 10-15 pairs may share common nesting grounds. Normally
one egg, occasionally two is hatched and the young are covered with pale
buffy down; when they leave the nest after 3-4 months they look almost like
adults. They have a life span of around 40 years.

If you do see them soaring in the skies above, its certainly worth taking
the time to stop and watch and to see them on the ground squabbling over a
kill although a little gory is a fantastic sight to see!