Casas Cueva del Tio Tobas

Useful Information

Location:	6 km south of Guadix. A-92 Guadix-Salida exit 307 Alcudia de Guadix, follow road to Guadix for 1 km, to the right.
Open:	All year daily. [2007]
Fee:	Cave with 1 bedroom EUR 78, Cave with 2 bedrooms EUR 120. [2007]
Classification:	Cave House
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:	T=18 °C
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Casas Cueva del Tio Tobas, Ctra. de Almería Km.1, 18511 Alcudia de Guadix, Granada, Tel: +34-958-698-350, Tel: +34-607-622-226, Fax: +34-958-698-537. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

Description

The number of cave houses in the Guadix region is enormous. Most people live in caves, many caves were transformed into holiday retreats of were built as such. Many people, especially from northern Europe try to find there own house here. Especially British seniors move to this area for retirement. The boom is enormous.

If you just want to try a cave, e.g while on holiday, the Casas Cueva del Tio Tobas is the ideal solution. It is a hotel with numerous comfortably renovated caves. The caves were named after Tio Tobas (Uncle Tobas), who was a rather poor farmer. He needed living space for two sheperds who worked for him and for his family with 10 children. Every year during winter, when there was no agricultural work to do because of rain and snow, he dug new caves. At last the main cave had 17 rooms, the hill he built them in was riddled with caves.

Tobas was a farmer, he had sheep and produced wine. Every year during autumn, when he made wine, he also opened a bar in one of the caves, where he sold his own wine. This is a typical thing in wine growing areas. After some years the cave which housed the bar was dubbed Uncle Tobas' countryinn.