Andalusia is an autonomous community made up of the following provinces: Almería, Seville, Jaén, Málaga, Cádiz, Granada, Huelva and Córdoba. With almost 8.5 million inhabitants, it is the most populated in Spain and the second largest, only behind Castilla y León. There are several curiosities of Andalusia that are of special interest, and that we will tell you below.
Walt Disney’s birthplace?
Everything indicates that it is a simple urban legend, but there are those who assure that Walt Disney was born at the beginning of the 20th century in the Almeria town of Mójacarr . It is said that when he was little his mother, Isabel Zamora, emigrated to the United States in search of a better life. However, things did not go well for her, and she had to give her son up for adoption. It is rumored that the adoptive parents were Flora and Elías Disney.
Andalusian cities around the world
There is a municipality in Colombia called Andalusia , located in Valle del Cauca and with a population of 15,000 inhabitants. In addition, there is a city in Argentina with the name of Córdoba, and one in the Philippines with that of Granada. There is also a Málaga in Nueva Guinea and a Jaén in Peru.
The only desert in Europe
Andalusia is home to the Tabernas Desert in the province of Almería, the only desert in all of Europe. With an area of 280 square kilometers, since the 1960s it has been the scene of thousands of film shoots , which is why it is known as the “European Hollywood”. Some of the films that have been shot in the Tabernas Desert are ‘The Good, the Ugly and the Bad’, ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’, among others.
Just 14 kilometers from Africa
The Strait of Gibraltar is barely 14 kilometers long, and many have tried to swim across it. The first to do so was the British Mercedes Gleitze in 1928. There is even an Association for swimming across the Strait of Gibraltar that provides support to anyone who wants to achieve such a feat.
Castle Land
And finally, according to the Cartographic locator of the Andalusian Cultural Heritage of the Andalusian Institute of Historical Heritage, in Andalusia there are almost 400 castles . The castle of Belalcázar, in the province of Córdoba, is considered one of the best in Spain. The Castle of Santa Catalina, in Cádiz, also has a great historical and cultural value.
Which of the curiosities of Andalusia has surprised you the most?
