Southern Spain is famous for its little white towns. Each one has its own character and is situated on some mountain side to set-up a picturesque scene. Ronda is a town that must been seen and is a good starting point to explore the ‘pueblos blancos’.
Ronda was built up by the Celts, Phoenicians and the Greeks. It lies about halfway between Malaga and Seville – so has always had an important role as a market town. Its setting is even more dramatic since it stands on an enormous gorge that drops for over 100m. Spanning this gorge are a few bridges – the most spectacular is the 18th century one that you can drive across. It is larger than the others and stands on two massive pillars that have been built to the bottom of the gorge. Martin de Aldehuela – the architect – fell to his death whilst inspecting his just finished work.
The town has two sections. The southern old town (la Ciudad) is the most interesting. The northern part was built after the reconquest brought high taxes to the old town, and so the traders crossed the gorge and set up a new town. The northern part has the bull-ring which is where the first rules of bull-fighting were laid down, and is the oldest and most prestigious bull-ring in Spain.
The town is lovely for walks and you get amazing views of the Rio Guadalevin as it flows slowly through the gorge. A particularly good walk is to go down the side of the gorge from near the Palacio de Mondragon. This is the most important building in the town, and has been used by Moorish Kings onwards as a palace. It too stands on the edge of the cliff and has some amazing views from its gardens.
The nearby Church of Santa Maria la Mayor is an interesting mixture of Christian and Muslim architecture. The Christians converted it from the mosque, so it still has much of the Moorish character.
The eastern side of the old town is also nice for walks and the other bridges are worth exploring.
We drove back from Ronda in the direction of Gibraltar. This took us down the windy mountain roads, but through some lovely white towns. Benalauria was very nice, set in the mountains of Sierra Bermeja. The best we went through was Gaucin.
Gaucin is a mountain village set beneath a Moorish fort. It’s free to visit the fort, and you get some glorious views of the surrounding mountains and down to the sea, Gibraltar and Africa. If you drive a little further along the road, you get a great view of Gaucin in its mountain-side setting. Its little church tower stands out amongst the collection of closely packed white buildings.
Each town has its own character and is always picturesque. If you take the bus you miss all of them, so it’s worth either driving or walking through the mountains.