Thousands of People Live in These Ancient Spanish Caves

Piedad Mezco and Antonio Ortiz have lived all their lives in the caves of Guadix. They were both born inside a cave and raised in the hills. In the past, Antonio worked on a farm and Piedad made wood chairs.

Unique decor is common in the caves near Granada. Here, a resident has hung four pistols around an image of his niece at her first communion.

Tocuato Lopez was born in the caves of Guadix and has lived there all his life. When he married for the second time, he bought a new cave with his wife and their two children. His room is located deep in the formation and does not have any windows or natural light.

Children play in abandoned caves next to their own cave home. In the past, every cave was occupied, but there are now multiple empty residences in their village.

A priest leads a service in Nuestra Señora de Gracia, an underground Catholic Church in Guadix. An image of the "Patronness of the Caves" sits inside the sanctuary, which has existed since the 16th century.

Lights shine inside the cave where flamenco dancers perform every evening. A similar dance was a wedding tradition for the gitano community but was banned in the 16th century. Dancers continued performing in secret and the residents of the Sacromonte shaped the dance into the flamenco that's performed today.

Two women dance flamenco in the caves of Sacromonte. The traditional Spanish dance was born in the region more than 500 years ago and community members continue to perform every night in the caves.

Sergine Mourtalla Mbacke, a Senegalese immigrant, looks out over the city of Granada and the Alhambra palace, once the royal court of Ferdinand and Isabella.

Malik, a Senegalese immigrant, looks at an image he's hung on the wall of his cave in the hills of Sacromonte.

Mbacke, who lives in the caves for economic reasons, smokes tobacco inside his home.