Oriented exclusively to the practice of skiing and tourist use, almost all of the buildings and facilities that comprise it are dedicated to this purpose. The permanent population is made up mainly of workers linked to the station.
Pradollano, in spring.
The hotels and apartment buildings that make up Pradollano have a certain common style, dominated by straight shapes, the use of wood and gabled slate roofs, one of the most representative being El Lodge. Many of the first buildings that preserve this style were made by the same architect, Jesús del Valle. Numerous buildings, especially those closest to the resort squares, have commercial ground floors normally dedicated to skiers, such as the rental and sale of sports equipment or restaurants. Some of these shops are located in covered galleries, which protect from the high mountain climate.
In addition to the buildings dedicated to accommodation, there are those dedicated to resort services: clinics, nurseries, offices, ski schools... The only building built for the use of the inhabitants of Pradollano is the public school, called CEIP Esquí-Escuela .6
In the highest area, at 2,320 meters above sea level, there is a High Performance Sports Center (CARD) with a surface area of 22,000 m2 designed to facilitate the training of elite athletes at high altitudes.7 Even higher and somewhat far from the rest of the core is the "Hoya de la Mora", where a university hostel, a high mountain barracks belonging to the Army and the University Botanical Garden of Sierra Nevada are located.
During the months in which the station is closed, most of Pradollano remains without any activity and services to its inhabitants are scarce, although it continues to be the point of origin of the practice of mountain sports.