Every year hikers come from different parts of the province of Almeria and neighbouring provinces such as Granada and Murcia.
After three years without being able to do the Almond Tree Route because of the pandemic, the XIII edition returns, coinciding with these days of flowering that is reaching its full splendour.
Next Sunday 26th February the meeting will take place in the town of Albox, from where the XIII Ruta del Almendro en Flor, the oldest in the province of Almeria, will start.
As has been the tradition in recent years, at this time of year the walking route returns where you can see the full bloom of the almond trees in the Sierra de las Estancias. A hiking route that will give you the opportunity to walk through the area with the highest concentration of almond trees in Spain. This year, due to weather conditions, the blossoming of the almond trees has not been brought forward and begins at the end of February and throughout the month of March.
The length of the walk will be 11 kilometres with a medium difficulty; it is a great opportunity to do sport walking through white and pink fields of almond trees in bloom, according to the organizers of the initiative (the Cultural Association ‘Somos Albojenses’, the Town Hall of Albox and Mojacar Sport Aventura-DGSE Turismo Activo). The route also has the collaboration of the Diocesan Sanctuary of El Saliente and the hiking clubs Nueva Aventura de Oria and Club de Montaña ‘Desamparado’s de Albox.
The meeting point will be the Saliente Sanctuary, where a short visit to the Pequeñica is planned for around 8.30am. Half an hour later the hiking route will begin. From there the retinue will take the cars to the starting point.
In the middle of the morning there will be a stop for breakfast with a small provisioning consisting of mollar almonds and almond cakes. At this point there are impressive views of 4000 hectares of almond trees, Sierra Filabres (Tetica Bacares), Sierra Nevada and Santuario del Saliente.
The organisers recommend that walkers wear comfortable clothing and footwear, as well as a camera to immortalise these beautiful landscapes.
This year, only a maximum of 100 registrations will be accepted. Payment must be made by bank transfer to the account number ES770073010051050505825993 indicating name, surname and concept ‘Ruta Albox2023’. In addition to formalize the registration, each person must attach the registration form and a copy of the deposit made in the bank to the following email: somosalbojenses1@gmail.com
The deadline for registration is Friday 24 February, the bank deposit and the registration form must be confirmed by email to somosalbojenses1@gmail.com.
«Just as the Jerte Valley is known throughout Spain for its cherry blossom, the aim is for the Sierra de las Estancias to be known as the Valley of the Almond Blossom», say Somos Albojenses.
Almeria is one of the provinces with more hectares of almond trees, about 80,000, and the area of the Sierra de la Estancias in its southern and northern slopes concentrates the largest production of almonds in Spain, being also the municipality of Oria the municipality with more almond trees in Spain.