ROOM 2
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Room 2 contains information panels, display cases and posters from local festivals. Together they bring three closely linked stories: water for irrigation, water for drinking—and bottling—and the hands that work natural materials such as willow. Here, water is not a backdrop; it is a driving force.
Acequias are traditional irrigation channels that carry water to orchards and gardens. One feature makes them especially important: they are not sealed with concrete, so water can slowly seep into the ground. This infiltration helps maintain the natural balance, feeding springs and keeping the landscape alive. In a way, water sustains life not only where it arrives, but also along its route.
Lanjarón preserves twelve main acequias, including the Acequia del Aceituno and the Acequia Mezquerina, still in use today. Behind each channel lies a very human system: organisation, agreements, shared turns, and maintenance—a way of ensuring water reaches the right place at the right time.
The display cases also point to another key chapter: bottling. Alongside the spa, Lanjarón grew thanks to its bottling plant. In the early years the spa and the factory stood close together near the entrance to the town, and both were essential to the local economy. Bottling began in 1830, partly so that the so-called agüistas—people who came for water cures—could continue to enjoy its benefits even outside the spa season. The idea was simple: taking Lanjarón home in a bottle.
Over time, Lanjarón water gained recognition far beyond the town. In 1878 it received a silver medal at the Universal Exhibition in Paris. In 1982 the brand became the first in Spain to switch from PVC to PET bottles. It covers around 31,000 square metres, and more than 90% of the workforce is local. Water still supports work and everyday life.
The spa itself also changed over the years. In 1818 Lanjarón’s water was officially declared mineral-medicinal, strengthening its reputation. From the mid-19th century the town developed tourism and hospitality. In the 1920s new hotels were built; by 1935 there were nine, and Lanjarón had become Granada’s leading summer destination at that time.
The Civil War and the difficult years that followed slowed that momentum. In 1947, after the spa was purchased by Manuel Gallardo Torrens, a new phase began, increasingly shaped by bottled mineral water, which gradually displaced part of the strictly therapeutic use. Tourism rose again in the 1950s and 60s, but from 1965 it declined as coastal destinations became more competitive. By 1990 there was a gentler recovery, focused on modernising services and reaffirming Lanjarón’s spa identity.
The third thread in this room is wickerwork. Basket-making is one of humanity’s oldest crafts and it remains deeply manual. The process is long: cutting in winter, boiling to soften, stripping, drying, and soaking again before weaving—turning a rigid branch into something useful, beautiful and lasting.
In Lanjarón, the vasera became essential for carrying water and drinking from the springs. Demand grew so much that the 1960s and 70s are remembered as a golden age, with around thirty families making vaseras, as well as wicker chairs, lamps and trunks. Few artisans remain today, but the spirit of the craft is still present.
Artisans also used other local plants. In the mountains they learned to make the most of species such as rascaviejas, white broom—also known as palain—and scented broom, valued not only for its fibres but also for its fragrance, which attracts bees and helps produce broom honey. The landscape itself became a workshop.
Local tradition is also part of this story. Lanjarón is included in a “Witchcraft Route”, and legends speak of gatherings around fires in places like the Tajo de la Cruz. On the night of San Juan, wicker played a role in a healing ritual for children: a branch would be opened, the child passed through it, and the branch tied again; if the tree healed and grew, the child was believed to heal too.
Room 3 presents the relief model and the mountain landscape where this whole journey begins: water high up in the peaks, travelling down to the town.
Return to ROOM 1 | Go to ROOM 3
