Whether you're underground, overground or rambling free, this Andalusian province offers a feast for the senses.
2. Guadix cave district Drawn here by rich mineral seams, the Romans created an important commercial centre on this site, but it was the Arabs who named it Guadix, from guadh-haix, meaning 'river of life'. Unfortunately, like many other water sources in this blisteringly hot province, the river from which the city derives its name dried up long ago. But the white-washed subterranean citadel founded by Julius Caesar still stands. It has the biggest concentration of Spanish troglodytes in one spot: more than 2,000 families inhabit this Unesco-protected cavern-conurbation dug out of 259 hectares of fulvous tufa (clay). Not that signs of life are easy to spot. From afar, Guadix barrio del cuevas resembles a mole-infested field decorated with chimney pots. Only the smoke curling from the man-sized chimneys (right) tells you people are down there, a metre beneath your feet. The best time to see these 'moles' emerging from their holes and having fun is in September, during the Cascamorros festival. Born out of an age-old dispute with neighbouring city Baza over the proprietorship of a holy statue, representatives of Guadix, known as Cascomorras, set out each year to 'steal it back'. When they return empty-handed they are reprimanded in a bizarre ritual orchestrated by their cave-dwelling neighbours.
3. Cave Museum The Cave Museum, near Guadix's parish church, is a fascinating labyrinth of grottos packed with pickaxes, chic donkey wear and tackle for slaughtering pigs. Duck inside and you'll understand why, with two-metre-thick walls that ensure a constant temperature of 18 degrees Celsius when it is a sausage-sizzling 40 degrees outside, locals have chosen to live in caves like this for the past three millennia.
4. Guadix new town Built around the cathedral, which was founded in 1594, Guadix's above-ground district bustles with aromatic coffee shops, bars hung with ham shanks and stores selling yellow and blue ceramics, bottles of caramel-flavoured Ponche brandy and racks of frilly, fuchsia flamenco frocks. Meson Calatrava (on Calle de la Tribuna) is a traditional bar with a cigarette-butt-strewn floor and a cosy ambience fired by local banter. It's also an excellent spot in which to sample sapid elements of local cuisine such as gambas rebozados (prawns in breadcrumbs), jampy (ham and red capsicum) and almejas al diablo (clams in spicy tomato sauce).