1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Motril

MOTRIL, a town of southern Spain in the province of Granada, at the foot of an offshoot of the Sierra Nevada and on the edge of a rich alluvial plain, about 1 m. from the Mediterranean and 40 m. S.S.E. of Granada, with which it is connected by a good carriage road. Pop. (1900), 18,528. The climate is semi-tropical, and the vega or plain of Motril has been found peculiarly adapted for the culture of sugar-cane and sugar-beet. In the district, and especially at Salobreña, 3 m. west, there are numerous sugar-factories; cotton is also grown and manufactured, and alcohol, flour, soap, iron goods and cotton stuffs are among the other industrial products. The neighbourhood is rich in zinc and lead; and copper is also found. Motril itself is a port of the second class, but the anchorage at Calahonda, 41/2 m. south-east, is much better. Grapes, barley, esparto grass, dry figs, almonds and zinc are exported.