Al-Andalus Experience was initiated as an entrepreneurial activity full time by A.Z.S., in 2007 to meet the needs and interests of Muslim travellers in Andalusia and Spain in general. The brand was registered in 2013.
Born late 70’s to new ‘Sufi’ Muslim parents in the UK, Z has grown up as a Muslim in Spain during the Spanish ‘Transition’ to democracy, since the early 80’s, so most, if not all his life has been in Spain. Having lived in Granada, Cordoba, Madrid and Valencia regions, he was mostly raised by the ‘Costa Tropical' of Granada, a nice seasonal sea-side area.
Z is innately curious and a self-taught specialist in Andalusian and Islamic traditions, as well as garden landscaping along with anything office or tech related, ultimately learning to code (and to no-code) as a way to leverage the challenges of entrepreneurship in Spain today, and a globally competitive travel market.
Z’s training was not in he tourism field, but driving over 300K kilometres around Spain only, by himself or alongside his Spanish step-father, in a pure “Don Quijote” fashion, while learning the technical sides of industrial floor installations, his Spanish stepfather’s business.
Since 2007 A.E. has carried out more than 1000 group tours, yet mostly in collaboration providing ground services for other simple or multiple company partnerships, Z onboard or a number of other trusted and trained local colleagues, as the main onboard travel assisting guides.
Currently, since Covid, Z is mostly doing weekly excursions into the Alpujarra region, with a local tour operating agency from Granada and also welcoming travellers in the Albaycin, for a sum-up on the rise and fall of Al-Andalus, Muslim Spain.
“Al-Andalus Experience is quite personal for me and those who like me have grown up in Spain, born Muslim to Western ‘revert’ parents. Hereby we share to the world our innate interest, speciality and insight around the history and traditions of Al-Andalus and how they are infused into Spain and the world today.
The rest of the week Z is working on our website, catalogue, trip plan emails and other related aspects of Al-Andalus Experience, and developing a new web app based now on over 15 years of experience, to ease the way and facilitate a tool for travellers and local experience providers to meet through our trip planning service. Local and overseas collaborators are welcome to onboard, train and qualify towards providing service to A.E. travellers.
For now this website is manually operated, with increased admin tools for a faster management. We intend to update to our new webapp site as soon as the basic trip planning functionality is ready, this will be an exciting step, and also make it easier to book your trips, all included in one go.
Specialist in Andalusian and Islamic Traditions.
Hi my name is Ahmad Zaruq, I’m British, resided in Spain since 1984 and founded Al-Andalus Experience in 2007. I work for individual, independent travellers, Schools, Teachers, Scholars or Institutions and some of the leading worldwide Tour Operators around the Muslim world as a Professional Travel and Event Planner in Andalusia Spain. I spent over ten years training myself and a number of local Muslim guides to be of service on the road and through the Islamic cities of Al-Andalus, effectively providing knowledgeable information with unique insights and experiences for travellers to enjoy.
If you would like to see me in action while presenting you our home town Granada, from its origin until today, within the historical context of Al-Andalus, and going through the main periods of Al-Andalus in so, while enjoying singular corners and amazing views from the Albaycin in Granada, Spain, please make sure to sign up for the group walk and talk below, on your chosen week day.
If you would like to contact me for any other reason, it is easy, please text me via WhatsApp and we can thereby schedule a talk online or dive straight into working on your request or proposal.
My WhatsApp and cellphone number is +34 622 236 421
Checkout zaruq.me/en to get a website and automation suite for any business or organisation.