Generally regarded as Spain's top ski resort, Sierra Nevada stands alone in the Penibetic mountain range in Andalucia, far from the country's other 30 or so ski areas, the majority of which are located 'up' in the Pyrenées. Once known as 'Sol-y-Nieve' or 'Sun and snow', the resort endeavours to offer the best of both worlds - sunshine and snow - the combination of latitude, altitude and a state-of-the-art snow making system usually allow it to pull this seemingly impossible trick off successfully. It is Europe´s southernmost ski resort, wonderfully close to Spain's famous Mediterranean beach resorts but located by the Iberian peninsula´s highest summits.

Sierra Nevada's 'resort´ village', Pradollano is one of Europe's highest, at an altitude of 2,100 meters. The resort is famous for staging the World Alpine Skiing Championships in 1996 after the event had to be cancelled when it was due to be staged there a year before because of lack of snow. Since then the resort has invested still further in its snow-making system, considered Spain´s largest and one of Europe's best such facilities. Even in the case of a complete lack of snowfall, Sierra Nevada can now guarantee the opening of the resort thanks to its excellent snow-making system. The number of guns have doubled, to 200 cannons, 13 low pressure and 187 high pressure units producing nearly 2000 cubic meters of snow per hour on 14 runs.