About Olvera

At the tip of the "White towns route", the city of Olvera is in the province of Cadiz, in the northwest of the Serranía Gaditana area, near the borders of the provinces of Seville and Malaga, on 36º56' north and 5º16' west, at a height of 643 metres (2,110 ft) above sea level and has a land surface of 194 km2 (75 sq mi).

The distance between the capital and the Olvera is 139 km (86 mi). The number of inhabitants, according to the INE of 2005, is 8,585, although the number of "Olvereños" is possibly greater as migration to the coast (specifically to the Costa de la Luz) in search of employment where individuals decided to change their address to their place of work.

The hills surrounding Olvera are full of olive groves that are said to provide the best extraction of olive oils in Andalusia.[citation needed] In fact, the town is said to be surrounded by over 2 billion olive trees. In recent years it has received the award of the "Denominación de Origen de la Sierra de Cádiz", which is a standard that is recognised by participants including nearby towns of Setenil, Algonodales, Alcalá del Valle, Torre Al-Haquime etc. While olive groves are of great importance to the economy, the largest economic source of this colourful town is the "cooperative" and the prize "Arco Iris" of 1989 was won due to the town having the greatest number of cooperatives per inhabitant.There are certainly fewer than 1 billion olive trees in the whole of Spain which is the world's biggest producer. The figure of 2 billion around Olvera is wildly inaccurate.

Of great interest within the municipality is a large colony of Andalusian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus) to be found within the natural reserve of the "Peñon de Zaframagón", a huge rock outcrop that is located 14 km to the northwest of the town centre.