All along the watch tower

Andalucia has hundreds of 'atalayas' (ancient watch towers) dating from the 15th century. It's a mystery to me why the people in charge of tourism in Spain don't promote these treasures, but they are almost unknown. So to redress the balance I spent a couple of hours over the weekend snapping watch towers, just for you.

On Saturday I walked for 15 minutes from my front door to my local atalaya, that's the photograph below. It has a commanding view of the south, where invaders would naturally come from. There's a walled garden that, by the look of it, was maintained until fairly recently, it's almond trees are still producing fruits. The ascent to this atalaya has become overgrown though and it's taken me many attempts to conquer it!

The tower below is in Jaen province, a one hour drive north from me, and about 2 hours from the coast.
I cheated here and used a photograph I took in July. This is a tower (in the distance!) on the road to Cordoba.
Finally, yesterday I drove to the town of Moclin, north of Granada. The town is built around the the castle and atalaya. Can you spot it?
So, now we all know what an atalaya is!