Andalucía is the world’s largest producer of olive oil and tranquil Córdoba province is behind some of the very best olive oils in Spain, which include a raft of on-the-up organic olive oils. Many of Córdoba’s finest drops come from the lively white town of Priego de Córdoba, on the eastern side of the Subbética.

Filled with spectacular Spanish Baroque architecture, Priego is famous for its liquid-gold creations from the hojiblanca, picual and picuda olive varieties, under the Denominación de Origen Protegida Priego de Córdoba. The Priego DO’s hillside olive groves date back hundreds, if not thousands, of years, with 6000 local families now tending to them. Around 50% of these trees sit over 1000m high, so most are still hand-picked in traditional style, without any big machinery. Several of the rural hotels here make their own olive oil too – and visitors can often join in during winter harvest time!

Rippling north from the Subbética towns of Luque, Doña Mencía, Zuheros and Cabra to the nearby market town of Baena, the Denominación de Origen Baena is another major force of Córdoba’s olive oil world. Its fruity, cold-pressed extra virgin olive oils revolve mostly around the picuda variety, though the hojiblanca, pajarero and picual olives are also hugely popular.

Producer of some of the world’s best olive oil, it’s no surprise that the Subbética region is also a good option for olive oil tourism in Spain. Visits to local working olive mills, guided hikes through the olive groves, fun-filled olive oil museums and expert-led olive oil tastings tapping into regional Andalucian cuisine are just a few of the tempting oleotourism experiences on offer. You can even unravel the secrets behind beloved recipes fired by Andalucía’s olive oil on a Spanish cooking course at one of the Subbética’s lovely rural B&Bs, and many restaurants here will serve up a few varieties of olive oil for you to taste. Or how about a blissful honey-and-olive-oil massage at a boutique spa hotel?

For a dazzling insight into just how much olive oil is made in Córdoba province, head out along the Subbética’s most beloved biking and walking route. Córdoba’s Vía Verde del Aceite is a star among Andalucía’s ingenious greenways – a collection of historical railway lines that have been reborn as easy hiking and cycling routes, with their former stations transformed into low-key hotels, restaurants, bars and bike-hire shops. You’ll be zipping through scented olive groves and across 19th-century viaducts (designed by French engineers from the Eiffel school) that skirt past delightful white villages such as Zuheros, Luque, Doña Mencía and Cabra, along the northern edge of the Parque Natural Sierras  Subbéticas. Running all the way from Jaén city to Puente Genil in western Córdoba, this deliciously rural greenway makes a particularly fun adventure for family holidays in Andalucía, and it’s also accessible for wheelchair users.