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In YEGEN , some 7km northeast of Cadiar, there's a plaque on the house (just along from the central fountain) where Gerald Brenan lived during his ten or so years of Alpujarran residence. His autobiography of these times, South from Granada , is the best account of rural life in Spain between the wars, and describes the visits made here by Virginia Woolf, Bertrand Russell and the arch-complainer Lytton Strachey. Disillusioned with the strictures of middle-class life in England after World War I, Brenan rented a house in Yegen and shipped out a library of 2000 books, from which he was to spend the next eight years educating himself. He later moved to the hills behind Torremolinos, where he died in 1987, a writer better known and respected in Spain (he made an important study of St John of the Cross) than in his native England. Brenan connections aside, Yegen is still one of the most characteristic Alpujarran villages, with its two distinct quarters, cobbled paths and cold-water springs. It has a fonda , Bar La Fuente (tel 958 851 067; ?12-18), opposite the fountain in the square, or there are rooms with bath at El Tinao (tel 958 851 212; ?18-27), on the main road. Heading east out of the village, more upmarket accommodation is available at El Rincon de Yegen (tel 958 851 270; ?27-36), where heated rooms come with TV and where there are apartments (?48-60) for longer stays, as well as a pool and good restaurant with an economical menu . UGIJAR , 12km on from Yegen, is the largest community of this eastern zone, and an unassuming, quiet market town. There are easy and enjoyable walks to the nearest villages (up the valley to Mecina-al-Fahar, for example), and plenty of places to stay : try the relatively luxurious Pension Pedro , c/Fabrica, near the church (tel 958 767 149; ?18-27), which has en-suite rooms and a restaurant, or Hostal Vidana (tel 958 767 010, fax 958 854 004; ?18-27), nearby on the Almeria road, with a terrace restaurant. There is a bus service on to Almeria (3hr).
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