An entertaining game for children who come to visit Granada is spotting all of the pomegranates, the fruit that serves as the symbol of the city. While the word "granada" in Spanish does mean pomegranate, the name of the city does not, as many erroneously believe, arise from the existence of an abundance of pomegranate trees here.

Rather, almost the opposite is true. Granada is the Spanish word which sounded most like the city's Arabic name Khamattah when the Christians were wanting to give the city a name more reflective of their culture and language, so they hispanicised Khamattah into Granada, and only then did they make the fruit the symbol of the city.

Stylized versions of the pomegranate can be found all over the city and making a game of finding them and pointing them out is an endlessly fun diversion for children. Many uses of the symbol are consistent enough that even young children can get the steady thrill of locating them -- every street sign, for instance, has a pomegranate above the name as do a majority of the manhole covers.

Other uses of the fruit are less obvious and provide a challenge for slightly older children. They will probably spot the fruits on top of the posts that were once used to tie up horses in the center of town fairly quickly, but see if they catch the large granada that sits on top of the fountain in Plaza Nueva, or the various fruits mixed in with the flowers decorating building tiles.

There are pomegranates in business signs, on flower pots, on heraldry and coats of arms, on beer bottles, on bar napkins, etc. When you are exhausted at the end of a long day of sightseeing, you can sit down for a glass of wine and a tapa knowing that it's possible to occupy the little ones for hours with the search for the granada.