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 i 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 esnecially at Salobrefia, 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 M. south-east, is much better . Grapes, barley, esparto grass, dry figs, almonds and zinc are exported .