The Pueblos Blancos (White Towns)

We have touched briefly upon The White Towns, when discussing Ronda. They surely deserve their own page however.

Although the area of The White Towns is generally acknowledged to be bounded by that triangle whose points are Gibraltar, Seville and Malaga, perhaps most typically these towns are those of the Sierra Grazelama, perched upon their hilltops defiantly, surveying all who approach them with a gentle insouciance.

They once represented something rather more martial as the one time border line between Moors and Christians. They also were a favourite place of work for the bandits that once abounded here, and for whom there is not necessarily always condemnation expressed by the locals. They like a good bandit hereabouts. There is even a bandit’s museum in Ronda and a general feeling that someone who gets one up on authority can’t be entirely beyond redemption.

(Editor’s note: we can categorically state that we never employ or work with bandits in any of our operations in Andalucia. We encourage a monk like devotion to good works instead).

Grazalema itself is an idyllically beautiful little town. Filled with the sound of bubbling fountains, for which the town is renowned, the penalty for this aquatic abundance is a rather wet climate. The reward for that abundance is a fertile and verdant National Park: the Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema, where a permit is required to hike but none to pass by car along its view-rich roads.

The town itself is almost self-consciously picturesque, well-kept and well provided with places wherein to satisfy the inner person.

Properties here are, as one might expect, in demand but indeed obtainable without breaking the bank.

Zahara de la Sierra is the archetypal fortified White Town. It straddles a hill top defiantly, overlooking a large reservoir in the valley below. It commands the approach roads and it has a commanding presence. The old Moor’s castle, which the Christians knocked about a bit, when they took the town back in 1483, overlooks a rather lovely baroque church.

Picturesque though it is, you can actually live here too. It is perfectly possible to find a home in Zahara.

Ubrique is located in the valley of the eponymous river. Known now for its leather work, in particular, it was once better known for producing fighting men. The Republicans retreated to this area as one of their last strongholds in the Spanish Civil War. These days it is a peaceful and interesting little town.

Other towns worth a visit are Benamahoma, renowned for its clear spring water, Sentil de las Bodegas where you will see homes built into the rock face and with another, somewhat knocked about a bit, old Moorish castle.

No doubt about it, those old Christian Kings, who reclaimed Andalucia from the Moors, only had to see a Moorish castle to have a go at it. “Ruins R Us” could have been their title.

Finally let us, as we drift back lazily towards Ronda, call in en route to the small but charming towns of Montejaque and Benaojan. Here, just outside the towns, are caves and here are Paleolithic cave drawings of great antiquity and great vigour.

In and around these villages you can eat as well as you could anywhere in Spain - at a fraction of the cost of the same food on the Costa. And you will find warm, friendly and likeable people who will welcome you.