Cordoba and Costa del Sol

In this episode, Michael visits the ancient city of Cordoba which sits 100 miles from Malaga, and the Costa del Sol in the north of Andalucía.

As well as being the second biggest city in the region, it's also one of Michael's favourites and is a place he likes more with every visit. For Michael, Cordoba tells a story of the mixtures and layers of civilisations that have influenced what it is to be Andalucian today: Roman, Muslim, and Christian.

Michael crosses the river on a Roman bridge before entering Cordoba's Mesquita, a stunning building considered to be one of the world's greatest Islamic buildings, which is also now home to a huge Catholic cathedral. Cordoba is also one of the hottest cities in Europe and Michael visits a family keeping their courtyard cool and beautiful by using a Roman technique: six hundred pot plants all being watered every day reduces the courtyard's temperature by an astonishing seven degrees centigrade.

For lunch, Michael helps cook in a restaurant that draws on the city's history, serving up dishes which have their roots in the cultures that shaped it. The area surrounding the city is home to 70 million olive trees which produce a staggering 80% of Spain's olive oil and nearly 30% of the world's. As Michael discovers, the increasingly hot and dry summers are hitting oil production, but he meets a farmer going back in time in the hope of solution.

On his return to Cordoba, Michael goes in search of a snack and finds what could be Spain's biggest tortilla, made from 30 eggs and seven kilos of potatoes.