Los Naranjos

The Los Naranjos campsite, or in English, "The Orange Trees", or perhaps "The Orange Grove", lies about 70 kilometres north east of the famous Spanish city of Seville. It is a campsite owned by a group of churches in Seville, and also by the FEBE church in Malaga. In contrast to the bustle of a large city, Los Naranjos is in the very quiet and beautiful suroundings of the Sierra del Norte National Park.

There are indeed a number of orange trees on the site—Seville oranges too, but there are lemon and mandarin orange trees as well! Visitors have been known to make their own marmalade from the fruit on the camp.

 Seville Oranges growing
The old Iron Works

It is a site full of historical interest. There is the old coach house, seen by the road in the title picture, from the days when the site was on the main route from Seville to Madrid. In the days of the Junta it was an army barracks, now it is being converted into dormitories.

The camp is also in the middle of an historic iron working area. Indeed, to the south of the site are the ruins of an old water powered iron works that was built by the British in the middle of the 19th centuary. One of the resevoirs for this works is shown below.

Much of the available accommodation is in what was the village for the ironworkers. Brick build croft dwellings, now with far more 'mod cons'!
A trout leaping in the Huéznar The old factory resevoir

The camp is bounded by two rivers, a road, and the Seville to Merida railway line and surrounded by farmland and small woods. It is a good area for walking and cycling as there is so much to see and explore.

There is a wide range of wildlife in the area. Trout can be seen leaping in the evening over the dam on the river Huéznar when it is in flood. [Remember! No Fishing!] Wild deer and boar roam the area around. Indeed, venison and boar feature as local delicacies in the restaurants. In the Autumn the bucks can often be seen challenging each other as they vie for supremacy. If you are fortunate, you might see a colourful resident like this lizard. He is quite a size, but not dangerous.

 Alberto the lizard
The Station A Train

OK, so the station at Fábrica de El Pedroso is not much to write home about, after all, there are very few facilities, and there are only a few trains which stop right by the camp, but it is certainly something different to be enjoyed! There is a much better service from the station in El Pedroso, but no taxis to get there!

The train fares to and from Seville are less than €4 [€3·50 in 2007 and only €5·50 for a return!] and the journey from Sata Justa station after the fast part just out of Seville gives a wonderful view of rural Spain. The apricots, oranges, peaches, the olives, the cotton… just so much to see. you can also relax and enjoy the scenery too.

You might have to be out at 7:15am (ish) to catch a train directly in to Seville, but stopping a train just as you would a bus at a request stop by holding your hand out gives one a certain feeling of power. (For those that rise late, you can catch a train at a reasonable hour, first to Cazalla, then from there down to Seville! The station at Cazalla where the train reverses is about 15km from the town of Cazalla—further than fromthe Camp! It will only cost you an extra €0·5) and the extra journey will only take about 30 minutes more and you will see yet more wonderful scenery.

For further details of the camp, do contact David Rivero on dgrivero@auna.com
Iris Lemon Blossom