Fountains

A genuine urban fountain, located next to the Church of Santa Cruz and on the main street of the municipality, where there are numerous shops selling typical Alpujarra handicrafts. A typical fountain of the Alpujarra region, which owes its flow to the filtration of irrigation channels and irrigation from the abundant meltwater from the southern slopes of Sierra Nevada. With an original architectural design, attached to a wall with a semicircular arch, popular tradition attributes certain powers of a romantic nature to its waters. This is noted in the writing found on the tiles above the spouts.

Chumpaneira

No digas nunca de esta agua no beberé
Pues esta fuente que aquí ves
Es fuente de la virtud
Y tiene tal magnitud
Que a beber su agua invita
La confirmó un devoto
Que feligrés fue de esta iglesia.
Y soltero que la bebe con intención de casarse
¡No falla! Pues al instante…
Novia tiene ¡ya lo ves!

To reach this urban fountain, you have to climb the steep, winding streets of the town that start at Square de la Libertad. Resting on a whitewashed stone wall, three spouts pour water. The adjacent washing places, located immediately below the fountain, were used as the setting for the filming of Pilar Tavora’s film “Yerma” (1998), starring Aitana Sánchez Gijón, Juan Diego and Irene Papas. It is based on the play by the Granada poet Federico García Lorca, who wrote it in 1934. This play depicts a tragedy set in a rural environment.

Also known as Fuente Agria de Sonsoles, it is located on the outskirts of the town of Pampaneira, at the end of Paseo Federico García Lorca. It is a spring with slightly ferruginous and spicy waters, a situation that occurs with some frequency in La Alpujarra. Interestingly, next to it there is another spring with cold water and normal mineralisation, something that also occurs with some regularity, giving an idea of the different courses followed by the waters.

In addition to a beautiful walk, Pampaneira has dedicated a fountain with two spouts to Federico García Lorca. Under a whitewashed stone wall, tiles display verses by the poet from Granada, which are an excerpt from the poem “Mamantial” (1919).

¿Quién pudiera entender los manantiales,
el secreto del agua recién nacida,
ese cantar oculto
de todas las miradas del espíritu,
de la melodía más allá de las almas…?
Federico García Lorca

It is located on the left bank of the Barranco del Cerezo (Ravine del Cerezo), below the village of Pampaneira and before the stream flows into the Poqueira River. To reach the spring, we start from a sharp right-hand bend on the A-4132 road before entering the village of La Alpujarra. It is signposted with a sign indicating the La Atalaya Local Trail. If you continue north for about 200 metres along a track until you reach the Barranco del Cerezo, you will see this simple spring, whose water stains its course ochre.