Algarve’s Snow Flower

Almond trees

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Can you believe that temperatures in the Algarve are currently in the early 20’?!

The Algarve in early spring is delightful! Everywhere you go you can’t fail to see the beautiful almond trees with their delicate pink and white blossoms bringing the region to life; painting splashes of colour everywhere.

Almond trees bloom throughout February and March. And almonds are everywhere here – with huge vats of the nuts on sale at every market and almond-based colourful sweets at pastry shops and cafés. But because most people head to the Algarve for its beaches in the summer, they miss out on the stunning beauty of the pretend ‘snow’ lit up by the warm sunshine.

But why are there so many almond trees here?

Legend has it that when the Algarve was still called Al-Gharb and ruled by the Moors, a young king, Ibn-Almundim, fell in love with a blue-eyed, golden-haired Nordic princess, Gilda. They got married, made their home in the Varandas Palace in Silves and the king loved her very much. But gradually as each day passed she became more depressed and she would sigh and shed tears of longing for her homeland. The king vowed to find out how he could cure her sadness and according to the tale, an elder told him that the Nordic princess missed seeing the snow she was so used to in her home country. The king ordered that thousands of almond trees were to be planted outside the palace so that when they were in bloom, she would look out of her window and see the landscape covered in a blanket of white petals, giving the appearance of freshly fallen snow. The princess was cured of her sadness almost immediately.

So what better time to escape the winter blues – come visit the Algarve and let us help you choose your perfect Portugal property. Contact us: info@portugalproperty.com or call us on +351 308 800 878 or 0800 014 8201 free from the UK.

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