Frigiliana has won four major prizes (one of them national), for the embellishment and improvement of the village. At a local level it received regional awards for beautification in 1961 and again in 1967; then in 1982 Frigiliana earned its most cherished prize – 1st place for beautification in all of Spain, awarded by the tourism and communications ministries. However, not resting on its laurels, the village then went on to receive 1st place in 1988 for beautification of an Andalucían Village.

The magnificent craggy stone cliffs and sharp gorges behind the village contrast sharply with the terrain below, where gentle undulating terraces of fruits and vegetables have been farmed in the same way for generations. In fact it is the close proximity to the mountains and the water that irrigates the area, such as the rivers Chillar and Higuerón, that made this an ideal place to cultivate crops, particularly vines and olive trees, but increasingly subtropical fruits too.

Frigiliana still remains rural, quaint and relaxed, and follows the contour of the mountain slope on which it was built. This makes moving around the old town a lot easier, but to explore deeper into the village and see what charming and impressive things there are to discover, you will inevitably have to do a little climbing.

There are two main thoroughfares in the old town: there is the original, narrow, cobble-stoned main street, Calle Real, which begins its winding course from the 16th century sugarcane factory, and continues through the old town until it emerges on the other side by the olive processing plant. Then there is the newer, wider road built a few years ago which passes around the village and has parking on both sides.