In pictures: Saudi Arabia’s Abha blooms purple

Saudi Arabia’s city of Abha has been covered in a blanket of purple as its trees bloom, photographs shared online showed on Friday.

Abha is the capital of Saudi Arabia’s southwestern Asir province and is a popular tourist destination for Saudi Arabians due to its mild climate, stemming from its location in hills 2,270 meters above sea level.

The city is immersed in vegetation and has a large number of Jacaranda trees known for their distinct purple flowers. This week, the Jacaranda trees bloomed – with Abha residents sharing images of the city covered in purple.

“This is how Abha looks like in this time of the year,” wrote one Twitter user who shared images of neat rows of purple trees along Abha’s scenic roads.

“The beauty of my city” wrote another Abha resident, sharing images of purple trees and picturesque houses in the Abha area.

Twitter user Munira AlOmarini paid homage to the jacaranda trees. “The jakranda plant is one of the most beautiful trees in the world in violet color and gives a kind of joy in the spring days,” she wrote, alongside a video of the trees in bloom.

Abha was named the Capital of Arab Tourism in 2017 by the Arab League’s Arab Tourism Organization.

More recently, the Iran-backed Houthi militia across has launched sporadic rocket attacks against the city from across the border in Yemen.

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