JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA & BODEGA

Sherry isn’t usually a tipple associated with cricket, as the ‘barmy army’ would surely agree. And yet it is because of this little glass of sunshine that cricket was played, for a tie, in a corner of Southwest Andalucía – a game not just of English gentleman but Spanish ones too.

In fact from Shakespeare to the modern day Poets Laureate – who still receive “a butt of sack per annum” or the equivalent of around 110 gallons of stuff – sherry has forged a special bond between the British Isles and its home town, Jerez de la Frontera. It is a bond which still exists today and which gives Jerez its own unique character amongst Spanish cities.

The City of Jerez de la Frontera


The very word, ‘sherry’, is an anglicized for of the original Moorish name for Jerez itself, the place which lies at the heart of the sherry producing area in Cádiz province. The elegant streets are filled with the heady aroma of the area’s most famous export, and the roll call of sherry bodegas – Sandeman, Garvey, Terry, Osborne, Williams & Humbert to name but a few – bears witness to that special connection.

English merchants were already trading in this part of Spain back in the 15th Century, and England’s Spanish Queen, Catherine of Aragon, wrote to her father to tell him how much her husband Henry VIII was enjoying the sherry he had sent. When Drake came to Cádiz to “singe the beard of the King of Spain” and scupper his plans to invade England, he also managed to capture nearly 3,000 barrels of the fortified wine to take back with him. It made him a rich man and marked the start of the English love affair with sherry.

For sherry connoisseur José Luis Jiménez Garcia, it’s a source of pride and wonder that his beloved ‘vino de Jerez’ has forged this centuries-old link between his home town and the British Isles. “Sherry is the symbol of our union”, he says. “England and Spain have been enemies in the past. But in truth we’re united by sherry. Even the vocabulary – ‘dry’ and ‘cream’ – is shared.”

Shakespeare and his friends at the Mermaid Tavern

Born in the shadow of a bodega, José Luis has made it his life’s work to explore and promote sherry’s influence on culture and the arts. “Isn’t it incredible to think that we are sitting here today sipping the same sherry that Shakespeare loved to drink in the Mermaid Tavern in London 400 years ago? It was an inspiration to him, and he mentions it in his plays no fewer than 48 times – I know, because I’ve counted them.”

The English nation’s growing love for sherry or ‘sack’ is most famously reflected in Shakespeare’s creation, Sir John Falstaff, who declares: “If I had a thousand sons, the first humane principle I would teach them should be, to forswear thin potations and to addict themselves to sack.”

The Irish were some of the first to realize the business opportunities in forswearing “thin potations”, perhaps because Ireland and Spain at one time shared not only their Catholic faith, but a common enemy – England. Today the names above many of the sherry bodegas tell the story of the influx of Irish driven overseas by famine and oppression – O’Neale, Garvey, Terry and even the famous Domecq which was originally founded by an Irishman, Patrick Murphy. The O’Neale bodega would later produce its own sherry named The Wild Geese in memory of these origins.

Domecq Palace

In 1754 Scotsman Arthur Gordon also fled the religious wars of the time and concentrating his efforts on the wine business did very well for himself. The home he built in Jerez still exists as does his Scottish estate at Wardhouse which has been passed down through generations of Scottish-Spanish heirs, including one Pedro Carlos, known as the “mad laird” who is said to have built a bullring there. History does not relate how the scots took the bullfighting, but the link between sherry and Scotland remains: the finest Scotch whisky is aged in old sherry barrels.

The English also came to Jerez. They founded Williams & Humbert, and the famous Sandeman house, which also tapped into the market for port fro neighbouring Portugal. The London-based agent, Robert Byass, joined with Manuel González Byass, which partnership created perhaps the world’s best-known sherry, Tio Pepe. This partnership lasted for 133 years, and today González is one of the sole remaining family-owned bodegas.

In Victorian times England and in particular London was increasingly the centre of trade from Jerez. And with British authority expanding across the globe, the demand for sherry was also on the rise. It reached its peak at the height of the Victorian era when no sideboard was complete without a decanter of the amber liquid – in those days mostly the sweeter variety. British influence was such that Madrid society started drinking sherry because it was fashionable in London and sherry achieved ‘fashionable chic’ in its own country.

Over the years, a love of the drink has drawn many English-speaking writers to visit the hoe of sherry, among the Lord Byron, who found the local beauties’ “dark languishing eyes… irresistible”, Anthony Trollope, Somerset Maugham, Aldous Huxley and even Ted Hughes. Literature ranging from Graham Greene to Harry Potter is littered with references to the fortified wine which numbered the Beatles amongst its fans.

THYSSEN BORNEMISZA MUSEUM - MALAGA

Last 20th of March Francisco de la Torre, Mayor of Malaga, and Baroness Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza, signed an agreement to create a new Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum in this capital of the Costa del Sol, Andalusia, in emulation of its big brother in Madrid, where the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum has been a principal and popular attraction for decades now.

In the year 2006 the negotiations began because in 2016 Malaga would like to aspire to the title of Cultural Capital of Europe. But the city also wants to gain respect as a cultural city and profile herself as a big city, trying to give its inhabitants European standard of urban quality.

Malaga 2016 Logo


The new Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum will be housed at the Villalón Palace (Palacio de Villalón), a very stylish building of 5,500 m2 over 5 floors, from the 16th Century at Compañía Street in old part of Malaga, where Mudejar ornaments were found which they are reforming now. These reforms had just been started because the idea was to house at this little palace the Museum of the History of Malaga (Museo de la Historia de la Ciudad).

Villalon Palace - Future Thyssen Museum Malaga


This building, visited by the Baroness in person last December, was of residential use till the 20th century when it was headquarters of various companies who reformed it quiet aggressively till how it is now. Paradoxically the false ceilings they installed favored the preservation of the original ceiling.

Baroness Thyssen visiting Villalon Palace


The project of the Thyssen Museum – Malaga will be realized with a part of the Baroness’ unique collection of Spanish paintings of the 19th and 20th century completed with artists from Malaga from the same era.

The Carmen Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection is created by the continuation of the Thyssen-Bornemisza Collection that had been housed in the museum with the same name in Madrid. The works of this amazing collection are basically Holland paintings from the 17th century, Veduta art from the 17th century, Naturalist landscapes of the 19th century, French as well as North-American, Impressionism, Post-Impressionism and the first avant-garde from the 20th century, mainly German expressionism paintings.

Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum Madrid


The impressive collection Thyssen has been travelling all over the world, presented in Madrid since 1996, but shown in Shangai, Rome, New York, Lugano, Tokio, Mexico, Brussels and Bonn, and also in different Spanish cities.

The agreement between the Baroness and the city of Malaga implies a free loan of the works for 15 years, of which 133 works correspond to the Andalusia Collection and 225works at the Spanish Collection and of which some 40% were never shown in Museums before.

Work from Domínguez Bécquer


Within the paintings of the 19th century there will be an important representation of Romantic Paintings and works from artists who usually are not shown in public collections like Eugenio Lucas Villamil or Custom Painting like Cabral Bejarano, Domínguez Bécquer, García Ramos or Jiménez Aranda.

Work from Jiménez Aranda


Other artists from that century who will be presented are Zuloaga, Regollo, Joaquín Sorolla, Romero de Torres, López Mezquita, Jiménez Acosta y Gutiérrez Solana.

Work from Joaquin Sorolla


There will also be works from the 20th century signed by Juan Gris, Moreno Villa, Bores, Francisco Cosío, Evaristo Valle or Benjamín Palencia, and from painters from the late 2oth century like Gerardo Rueda, Saura, Úrculo or the Equipo Crónica, while the Baroque Era will be represented by Zurbarán’s “Santa Marina”.

Zubaran - "Santa Marina"


The deal between the two parties is one of the mayor cultural novelties of the city of Malaga, since the opening of the Pablo Picasso Museum - Malaga, an extraordinary museum of the mayor icon of the world of Contemporary Art.

It is even likely to think that Carmen Cervera, the baroness’ real name, was completely inspired by this museum to come up with her own museum. Anyway the idea that Malaga soon will have both museums makes the city definitively cultural and artistically capital of Andalusia.

Pablo Picasso Museum Malaga

BOTANICAL GARDEN – MALAGA

The Botanical Gardens in the city of Malaga were created in 1855 by the Marquis and Marchioness of Loring and subsequently extended by the Echevarria-Echevarrieta family. The gardens provide an exquisite open-air collection of tropical and subtropical flora. Plant species from Europe, America, Asia, Africa and Oceania can be found here.

The Botanical garden was officially declared historical-artistic gardens in 1943 and they are now also recognized as Item of Cultural Interest. In spring 1990, the gardens were taken over by Malaga City Council, who opened them to the public on 21st June 1994.



The origins of La Concepcion can be traced back to the merging of several estates located at the north of Malaga. This was a home to olive and almond trees and possibly vines, though the citrus trees were the most numerous. The gardens’ creators were Jorge Loring Oyarzabal and Amalia Heredia Livermore, who purchased the land on which they stand in about 1855.

The Marquis and Marchioness’ comfortable economic situation coupled with their first-hand experience of some of Europe’s finest gardens and their commercial dealings abroad enabled them to cultivate the most exotic of plant species from around the world. In order to ensure that their dream came to fruition, they enlisted the services of a French gardener, Chamousst, who selected and planted the gardens’ flora, an endeavour for which he was awarded a number of prizes, as witnessed by newspaper reports of the late XIX century.

La Concepcion quickly earned itself a fine reputation throughout Europe, though not for its exuberantly beautiful gardens; the source of this renown was in fact the magnificent collection of archaeological remains on display in the Loring Museum, a small, Doric-style building erected on the site of a Roman mosaic discovered in Cartama depicting the feats of Hercules.



For many years, the Lorings strove to restore all of the archaeological remains that they encountered. Without doubt, the most significant of these was the Lex Flavia Malacitana, a bronze piece bearing the Roman laws that governed Malaga in the year 80AD which now resides in the National Archaeology Museum.

La Concepcion’s historical garden dates back to 1857. The area known as the "botanical garden" (collections of plants grouped in accordance with scientific criteria which are used for research and educational activities) has subsequently sprung up around it, with numerous groups of plants laid out in the manner of a garden. Fruit trees, bamboos, palms, vines, Mediterranean and aquatic plants etc. have gradually created a series of different gardens in which the visitor can both stroll and learn.

The main attraction of this romantic-style garden, which covers 3 hectares, is its collection of palm trees. This is notable for its inclusion of such unusual species as Livistona saribus and Livistona decora (L. decipiens) and for featuring a number of majestic specimens such as Roystonea regia, Brahea armata and Jubaea chilensis.



Also to be found here are Cycads (C. revoluta and C. circinalis), Ficuses (F. microcarpa and F. macrophylla), Araucarias (A. heterophylla and A. bidwilli) and huge masses of giant Birds of Paradise (Strelitzia nicolai).
The bamboos (Phyllostachys nigra and Bambusa vulgaris) add a touch of beauty to the whole ensemble, whose singularity lies in the fact that it features a large number of tropical and subtropical plants that are very rarely found growing outdoors in Europe.



In addition, the garden’s vegetation is housed in a gentle landscape filled with surprises, where winding paths lead to unique, charming corners that are home to ponds, fountains, cascades, footbridges, greenhouses and statues.

We have the Lorings to thank for all of La Concepcion’s buildings: the large Stately Home, which is currently being restored, and the building known as the "administrator’s house" were erected in the XIX century; the latter is home to both the Training Workshop, which offers courses in gardening, building and carpentry, and the Technical Department of the Botanical Trust.

Also to be found here are an old gardener’s shed, now the headquarters of the “Association of Friends of La Concepcion”, and a former schoolhouse which is soon to play host to the “Nature School”. The avenue lined with banana trees, the Swiss cheese plant cascade, the Loring Museum and theatre areas and the most attractively landscaped corners of the historical garden all date back to the same era.


The Loring Museum

WOLF PARK ANTEQUERA

LOBO PARK - The world’s unique Wolf Park


In a short distance from Antequera, in the north west of the Andalusia province of Malaga, you find the incredible LOBO PARK (Wolf Park) where you may look at a wolf Eye-to-Eye for the first time in your life. An unforgettable emotion!




If you are looking for a very special evening out, don’t miss the weekend HOWL NIGHTS from May till October. Enjoy a BBQ on the terrace with a spectacular view on the El Torcal during the sun set.


Sun Set View on El Torcal from Wolf Park (Lobo Park)


For an original day out this this original Wolf Park offers you the opportunity to witness wolves in an exceptional environment that leaves you without any doubts that animals in captivity do have a chance to live in a semi-natural habitat.


Undoubtedly you will be overwhelmed when you join the guided tour, the Wolf Tour, through the Wolf Park and hear the different wolf packs howl to each other. (Reservation required)


This world’s unique wolf park, where you find 4 of the most interesting wolf subspecies in the world, offers you a variety of activities like Guided Wolf Tours and Summer Howl Nights. There’s also a child friendly Petting Zoo, where you can see and get closer to some of our animals.







Lobo Park Petting Zoo


Beside al this you can do some Horse Riding there or just find yourself an original souvenir in the Gift Shop.

OPENING HOURS
The park is open all year round from 10:00 till 18:00 except on the 25th of December and the 1st of January.

GUIDED WOLF TOURS
From Monday to Friday: 11:00, 13:00, 15:00 and 16:30
Saturday and Sunday: 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 and 16:30

RATES
Guided Wolf Tour: Adults € 8, 50 – Children (3-12 years) € 5, 50

WEBSITE WOLF PARK:

http://www.lobopark.com/navi/index_e.htm

12th Territiorios Sevilla 2009 - Monasterio de la Cartuja

12th Territorios Seville 2009


28th , 29th and 30th of May 2009

At

Andalusian Centre of Contemporary Art (C.A.A.C)
(Monasterio de la Cartuja)

Seville - Andalusia - Spain

On the 28th , 29th and 30th of May 2009 the old renovated Monastery Saint Maria of the Caves in Seville, “Monasterio de la Cartuja de Santa María de las Cuevas”, will again receive thousands of festival lovers to celebrate three days of love, peace and music... Contemporary music for all types of people with an amazing mix of national and international artists bringing you Independent Rock, Alternative, World Music, Indie, Hip Hop, and so much more, like Electro, Eclectic, Lounge and Industrial.




Emir Kusturica


Some of the names on the program were already known for a while, like Ojos de Brujo, Wilco and DeLaSoul and The No Smoking Orchestra with the unmatched Emir Kusturica, for example, but the organisation now completed the list of artists who will perform for all 3 days. Important names in contemporary music like the Beastie Boys’ DJ Mixmaster Mix, Cycle, Diplo and DJ Muggs from Cypress Hill confirmed their presence.


MixMaster Mike (DJ Beastie Boys)




The festival is divided in three themes: on Thursday 28th you can feel the world music vibes with TERRITORIOS MESTIZOS, on Friday 29th you shake and rock on TERRITORIOS POP / ROCK / ELECTRONICA and on Saturday 30th of May you break and dance on the hip hop beats on TERRITORIOS HIP HOP.

Detailed Schedule of the Festival/Programa Festival

Thursday 28th of May 2009 - Jueves 28 de Mayo 2009
Friday 29th of May 2009 - Viernes 29 de Mayo 2009
Saturday 30th of May 2009 - Sábado 30 de Mayo 2009



Monastery Saint Maria of the Caves in Seville
“Monasterio de la Cartuja de Santa María de las Cuevas”

HISTORY OF THE MONASTERY
In February 1990 the Andalusia Government (Junta de Andalucia) gave green light to reform the old Monastery Saint Maria of the Caves in Seville (“Monasterio de la Cartuja de Santa María de las Cuevas”), situated on the right bank of the Guadalquivir River just in front of the Seville city centre. (direction Itálica and Aljarafe).

In the past they built here a number of ovens to create ceramics because of the huge amount of clay and mud on this spot. According to the legend it was in one of these ovens that back in 1248 appeared a Virgin. That’s why it is called The Virgin of the Caves (Virgen de la Cuevas).


To worship this image they first installed here a hermitage and in 1399, Gonzalo de Mena, Bishop of Seville by that time, founded the Monastery de la Cartuja donating more sites to the convention.


Don Gonzalo de Mena


In its 6 centuries of existence the Cartuja has gone through moments of big glory but also of grave crisis. Because of its geographical situation, right next to the Guadalquivir River, the Monastery has been going through several, almost annually, floodings. But thanks to some wealthy families in Seville, like the Mena, the Ribera and the Veraguas, the Convention was economically protected to maintain their existence.

It was also in this Monastery the residues of Christopher Columbus were kept for more than 30 years. Frequently Columbus visited the Convention and also enjoined its hospitality towards him to prepare his second trip.

Santa María de las Cuevas or Saint Maria of the Caves was the spiritual retreat of Philip II and also frequently visited by important persons in Seville history like Arias Montano or Teresa de Jesús, and all Spanish kings visiting Seville. Throughout history the Monastery could create an amazing artistically treasure with works from important Spanish artists like Alejo Fernández, Durero, Pace Gazini and Aprile de Carona; Montañés and Mesa; Murillo, Cano and Zurbarán; Pedro Roldán, Duque Cornejo, etc.

Apart from being a stable monument, the Cartuja was also an immured city with continuous changes. In 1810, during Napoleon’s invasion in Spain, all Monasteries were banned and invaded by the French, reforming them into army barracks for the French troops. The monks escaped to Portugal and came back in 1812 to be permanently expelled in 1836 by the Repression of Mendizábal.


Desolated and tattered the Monastery was taken over by the English business man Charles Pickman who installed a crockery and china factory in 1841. For the needs of the manufacturing of crockery and china several chimneys and 10 ovens, of which 5 are still upright, were built and gave the final look of the monastery. The factory kept on being active till 1982.

In 1986 the Andalusia Government started to reform and rebuilt the Monastery with the idea to reserve all essential activities from the past. In this context they installed at the plot of the Monastery an Investigation and Cultural Centre, back in 1989.

Additional works were later on be done for the World Expo 1992 in Seville, to change finally into the Andalusia Centre of Contemporary Art (CAAC) in 1997. The Centre was created with the aim of giving the local community an institution for the research, conservation and promotion of contemporary art. Later the centre began to acquire the first works in its permanent collection of contemporary art.

The CAAC, an autonomous organisation dependent on the Andalusian Government (Junta de Andalucía), took over the collections of the former Conjunto Monumental de la Cartuja (Cartuja Monument Centre) and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Sevilla (Contemporary Art Museum of Seville).

From the outset, one of the main aims of the centre has been to develop a programme of activities attempting to promote the study of contemporary international artistic creation in all its facets. Temporary exhibitions, seminars, workshops, concerts, meetings, recitals, film cycles and lectures have been the communication tools used to fulfil this aim.

The centre's programme of cultural activities is complemented by a visit to the monastery itself, which houses an important part of our artistic and archaeological heritage, a product of our long history.

CONTEMPORARY ART

Permanent Collection




From a chronological point of view, the CAAC collection can said to date from 1957, the year in which Equipo 57 became known. The permanent collection includes pieces by Luis Gordillo, Candida Hofer, Rebecca Horn, Pablo Palazuelo, Joseph Kosuth and Louise Bourgeois. It focuses in particular on the history of contemporary Andalusian creativity and its relationship with other national and international artistic contexts.


Some works of Equipo57


To complement their visit to the centre, visitors may also see the historical grounds of the former monastery which includes the old chain door, atrium, chapels of Santa Catalina, San Bruno, Santa Ana, Profundis and la Magdalena, the priory cell, church, the sacristy, cloisters, monks' chapter, refectory, gardens and orchards.


Installation from Joseph Kosuth


Since 1994 the centre has organised a series of themed exhibitions relating to different aspects of the Monastery in which pieces from its archives address relevant events in contemporary aesthetic creation.


Louise Bourgeois



Documentation Centre Library

At present the Library contains over 26,000 volumes concerning multiple aspects of contemporary art, with particular interest in exhibition catalogues from the 1960s to the present and numerous facsimiles. The Library also subscribes to almost a hundred periodical publications and has an important collection of exhibition leaflets, posters, audiovisual material, etc.


More info CAAC at:

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/cultura/caac/english/frame.htm

NEW FLAMENCO CLUB in Ronda (Malaga)

The president of the Ronda City Hall Culture Department, Salvador Pendón, inaugurated the installations of the new Flamenco Club (Peña Flamenca) from Ronda (Málaga), this in the presence of the Ronda mayor, Antonio María Marín and the president of the Flamenco Club, Francisco Caballero.


A huge number of Ronda people came to the opening to see the first flamenco performance in their new club. It were the flamenco dancers Fátima y Moisés Navarro who were invited to inaugurate the stage. They were assisted by Delia Membrive (singing), Fran Vinuesa (guitar) and Rafael Heredia (percussion). The typical hand-clapping or ‘palmas’ were done by Juan Santiago and Amara Navarro.


The flamenco dancer Moisés Navarro


This new flamenco club in Ronda was created by the fusion of the 2 ancient flamenco clubs: “Peña Tobalo” and “Fernanda y Bernarda” . From now on Ronda disposes of a brand new club with a capacity of 400 people.

In his speech the mayor emphasized the importance of having a multifunctional Flamenco club in Ronda, the heart of Andalusia, where flamenco always had a central role for its people. He also added that it will be the ‘socios’ (Alleys) themselves who will bring life to these fantastic installations. Mr. Salvador Pendón on his turn honoured the most important local flamenco stars like Anilla ‘La Gitana’ and Paca Aguilera.

SEE ALSO:

More info about "Anilla La Gitana"

http://www.enfrentearte.com/hotel-ronda/2009/01/ronda-and-flamenco.html


Concerts in Flamenco Club – Ronda (Peña Flamenca)

Fridays 10th , 17th and 24th of April 2009:

Eliminatory of the Sing, Dance and Play Contest “Aniya La Gitana”.
Where: Sede Peña Flamenco,
Peña Flamenca Tobalo y Fernanda y Bernarda
Dolores Ibarruri Street, 8
22:00 hours
Free entrance

WHITE VILLAGES ROUTE IN ANDALUSIA

Hotel EnFrente Arte – Ronda presents:

The White Villages Route at Ronda and Surroundings

Ronda - Arriate - Olvera – Setenil de las Bodegas – Acinipo – Montejaque – Benaojan –Pileta Caves – Sierra of Grazalema - Ronda

It is very difficult to determine how long you should stay in Ronda and it’s Serrenia to visit the White Villages. Because of it’s central location, between Seville and Granada, close to the border of the Cadiz province, Ronda is maybe one of the best places to start your White Villages Route in Andalusia. Not only the city of Ronda but also its surroundings offer you a lot of possibilities to spend some weeks here.

The historical city of Ronda and it’s monuments, completed with the Natural Parks from the Serrania and the white villages near, are today one of the most complete holiday packages in Europe. That’s why we would like to present you the White Villages Route from Ronda to the Sierra of Grazalema in Cadiz, over Setenil de las Bodegas, to the Pileta Caves and Cave of the Cat (Cueva del Gato).



Pictures Sierra of Grazalema

From Ronda we leave direction Campillos, from the central roundabout at the Ronda Ring Road, and after a mile we go left, following Arriate. The origin of Arriate comes from the Arabic “Arriadh”, which means “orchard”. It became a village in 1661 and today its population is some 4,000 inhabitants. The people are popular and respected in the era because of their reputation of hard working people. They elaborate excellent sausages, they produce Olive Oil (Aceite de oliva) and there is local furniture industry.

Arriate

The people from Arriate are also very happy people and they like to party; that’s why it is really worth taking part of one of their local Fairs or festivities. The most interesting are definitely the Festival of the Bell Founders (Campanilleros), where the village gathers on early Sunday morning to sing to the Virgin Maria, the Arriate Easter Week of Holy Week (Semana Santa) or the local San Pedro Fair on the 29th of June. Another feast is the famous “Partir la Vieja”, on the first day of Lent (Cuaresma).

We leave Arriate and pass the hamlets La Cimada and Los Prados, belonging to the City of Ronda. We cross the Malaga and Cadiz province border and will arrive at the extraordinary village of Setenil de Las Bodegas. In front of us, like a white drop on the green fields high up on the horizon you can see Olvera. This typical White Village, with an actual population of some 8,750 inhabitants, was founded by the Dukes of Osuna and became an important city during the Reconquest (Reconquista), right on the border of the Catholic North and Islamic South. The famous Arabic Castle from the 14th Century is a good example of remaining of this period. For a lot of Andalusian people Olvera is a place of pilgrimage, not only for its beautiful cathedral Nuestra Señora de La Encarnación.

Olvera


Setenil de las Bodegas is situated in the east of the province of Cadiz and geographically almost completely surrounded by the province of Malaga. Today Setenil has a population of 3,500 inhabitants. It is built on the borders of the Guadalporcún River cutting the Miocene Rock landscape, serving as a natural defence of the village throughout its history. It belonged to the Catholic Kings (Reyes Católicos) who conquered it in September 1484 after intense battles. To celebrate this victory Queen Isabelle donated a “chasuble”, still to be observed in the parish church.

Setenil de las Bodegas


The small cave-like streets of this astonishing village are formed from the overhanging ledge of a gorge. Many of the white houses - some two or three storeys high - have natural roofs in the rock and are constructed into the caves and burrows on both sides, attached to the rocks. A short walk through the village is absolutely a must.

From Setenil we follow our road to El Gastor, the Balcony of Andalusia, and we’ll see a sign to Acinipo. Acinipo or Land of Wine is also known as Ronda La Vieja. The site of Acinipo was already occupied before Roman expansion in Spain, being situated as it is on a high point above a large flat plateau. It was a Phoenician colony in the pre-Roman period. The site was important not only for its strategic location, but also as a junction. High up in the mountains, from Acinipo roads and passes lead down to the south coast, to the west coast at Cadiz, to the Guadalquivir valley and back east towards Antequera. The city was important and wealthy, but began to fade in the mid 3rd century, gradually losing power and importance until the nearby Ronda (Arunda) took over the position of importance.

Acinipo Theatre in winter


Ronda la Vieja's best and most striking remain is the 1st century AD theatre, which stands at the summit of the hill visible from the rest of the city only as a high wall until you reach the building itself. It is remarkably well preserved, which is surprising considering the state of the rest of the site. It is possible to make out some buildings, but most of the city exists as rubble. Heaps of stone denote where buildings lie. With some work, Acinipo could be an amazing visitor site but, due largely to its extraordinarily out-of-the-way location, it is highly unlikely the government will ever pour enough money into it for that.

From Acinipo we go back and follow to the Ronda-Seville road. We go right and after a few miles there is a sign Montejaque and Benaojan. On your right side you have the Montejaque Reservoir and the entrance of the Hundidero Caves, who are connected with the famous Cuevas del Gato.

Cueva del Gato


Montejaque, which means “Lost Mountain” in Arabic, is enclosed by the Sierra del Hacho and the little houses form a white line against the mountainsides. Its origin is Moorish but afterwards it was owned by the Counts of Benavente. Emigration has been the most important social phenomenon is this village over the last years, but it still is famous for it’s manufacturing of products from the Iberia pork. Also, the peace and beauty of this small village is for a selected group of tourists a reason to visit Montejaque.

Montejaque


We leave Montejaque and continue over the Mures Mountains to another Moorish village: Benaojan. This is Arabic for the House of the Bakers. There are some 1,600inhabitants in this small white village and it also belonged to the Counts of Benavente. The village lives from the manufacturing of pork products basically. Its railway station, Benaojan Estación, is only a few miles away on the river bank and has become a real tourist highlight. From the north side of the village, along the abysses and peaks, you will arrive at the prehistorically Panteon of Andalusia, the Pileta Caves (Cueva de la Pileta).

Benaojan


The Pileta Cave is situated at the northern part of the Sierra of Líbar and the Las Mestas mountain massif. The cave was discovered in 1905 by the local Shepherd Don José Bullón Lobato but it was the English Colonel Mr. Vernet who in 1911, after some publications about the caves in the British press, gave the caves its fame. In 1912 the experts Breuil and Obermaier studied the caves and confirmed its huge historical importance. In 1924 it became a Spanish national monument. The imposing frescos in the Pileta Caves are some 15 till 20.000 years old.



Frescos at the Pileta Cave

The caves are part of the Natural Park of the Sierra of Grazalema, one of the three parks in the surroundings of Ronda. This park is situated at most western part of the Serrania and the UNESCO declared it Reserve of the Biosphere in 1977, and National Park in 1984. Very curious is the fact that this Sierra has got the most average sediment from Spain with 2.200 mm. Also very special is the presence of the Abies Pinsapo Boissier, a tree from the Tertiary Age, also to be found at the Sierra de las Nieves. It’s a rough and woody landscape of oak trees, cistus scrubs and medical plants like oregano and lavender. The fauna from the Sierra of Grazalema are mainly foxes, deers and lynx. The park also disposes of one of the biggest manure colonies.

Sierra of Grazalema with the Pinsapo Trees


It is absolutely worth visiting this park for a day and combining this with a visit at the village of Grazalema. This is one of the typical white villages of the province of Cadiz and especially known for its handmade carpets and ponchos. Also the mainly sheep’s wool products can be found in this cosy little village, right in the Valley of the Sierra of Grazalema.

Grazalema (village)

If we take the way back to Benaojan and follow Ronda, we will pass the Military Complex of the Legion, before getting back at the Ronda-Sevilla moterway. From here you are at only 2 miles from the Ronda city centre, where we started our trip.