Granada
A city of palaces and white streets at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, where Europe and the Muslim world have met for more than a thousand years.
A kingdom of al-Andalus
In 711 armies from North Africa crossed into the Iberian peninsula, and for almost eight centuries much of it was al-Andalus, part of the Muslim world. As the Christian kingdoms of the north advanced, Granada became the refuge of its last dynasty, the Nasrids, from 1238.
They built the Alhambra, the red fortress on the hill, with its courts, fountains and endless geometry of tiles. The eight-pointed star in our logo comes from those tiles.
1492
On 2 January 1492 the last Nasrid king, Muhammad XII, known as Boabdil, handed the keys of Granada to Ferdinand and Isabella. The same year the Jews of Spain were expelled and Columbus sailed west.
In the decades that followed, Granada's Muslims were forced to convert or leave. The city that had been a meeting place of faiths became a place of pain between them. That history is still felt today, and it shapes how we share the love of Jesus here: with humility, friendship and honesty.
Water from Alfacar
High in Alfacar, the village where our base stands, the spring of Fuente Grande feeds the Aynadamar channel, built in the eleventh century to carry water down to the Albaicín. For centuries water carriers sold that water in the streets of Granada.
We love that picture. Living water from the hill to the city is exactly what we pray for.
A city of students
The University of Granada was founded in 1531 and is one of the largest in Spain. Every year thousands of students from across Europe and the world come here to study, and many of them are open to new friendships and big questions.
Between Europe and North Africa
Granada has a visible Muslim community, with its own mosque in the Albaicín, and Morocco is a few hours away by road and ferry. Cross-cultural ministry happens on our doorstep, with full freedom to share our faith.
That is why we are here. A disciple trained in Granada learns to love people of another culture in the next street, and is ready to go to the nations.
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Once a month we write about what God is doing in Granada: stories, prayer needs and news from the team.