The fig tree grows in the Garden of the Moorish King / El Huerto del Rey Moro, an inner city urban garden based on a parcel of land that has been used for horticulture as long as memory goes. Archaeologists have found evidence of a waterwheel and wells in the garden that date back to Moorish times (8th to 13th centuries). The fig itself is an old old lady. She is over 500 years old. We climb her carefully and sit in the nest of branches or seek shade in the summer. Her roots go out so far and deep, you can’t imagine from the size of her from her canopy, having been cut back so many times.

My favourite tree. When we left Seville, I went to touch her knarled old trunk and say my farewells. E noho ra whaea.