The Palmeral de Elche is a landscape of groves of date palms in the city centre of Elche. The town has over 200,000 palm trees, making it the largest palm grove in Europe.
This palm grove is an agricultural system of Arabic origin, dating back to the Muslim conquest of Spain. Thanks to its sophisticated system of irrigation, the palm grove has been able to survive to the present day. The preservation over the centuries of this beautiful natural space together with the fact that the grove is a useful system for agrarian production in arid areas and an extraordinary example of sustainable agricultural development led the UNESCO to designate the palm grove a World Heritage Site in the year 2000.
Visitors may take routes and walk through the very heart of the Palmeral: some of the orchards are public and may be accessed freely, as for example the Parque Municipal; others, however, are private, so that entry tickets are required. The most famous orchard is known as El Huerto del Cura.
Visits to the tree stands: Information about opening hours and ticket prices is available at the tourist information office of Elche.
Rev. PAB 19.12.18
