The local
scenery
Álora
sits right in the heart of the Guadalhorce
Valley and dominates the local area.
That said you have to cross the
next hillside from where we are
to be able to see it. its urban
centre and old Moorish castle perched
on top of a hill making for one
of the most spectacular entrances
to any town in Andalucía.
The area itself is sometimes known
as the Valle del Sol, due to the
sunny weather it enjoys for most
of the year.
The best-known
nature parks in the area are El
Chorro and the Desfiladero de los
Gaitanes (the Gorge of the Bagpipers).
The famous Caminito del Rey, a narrow
and dangerous pathway that was built
across the massive rock formation
here.The historians tell us that
the name is Latin in origin, and
there is a stone in the parish church
with the inscription "municipium
iluritanun", dated 79 B.C.
We can thus deduce that this is
the municipality of lluro, from
where the present name most certainly
derives
Pizarra
Pizarra
is situated in the Guadalhorce valley
region, between Alora and Cártama.
Its lands are crossed from north
to south by the Guadalhorce river
and offers a varied landscape in
which the Sierra del Hacho and the
fertile plain which covers the bottom
of the valley stand out. The Hacho
mountain (447 m.), on the slope
which faces Pizarra, offers a singular
landscape of sandy rocks which is
spectacular in some of the forms
the rocks present on the peak.
Ardales
Ardales
is situated in an area that borders
on the Ronda Mountains, the Antequera
countryside and the Guadalhorce
Valley, and is very rich in architecture,
archaeological remains and natural
resources. The town has a medieval
flavour about it, dominated by a
castle and a church in the typical
mountain village style, and is rich
in architecture and archaeological
remains, both in and around the
town.
Not
far from Ardales is the famous Nature
Park of the Desfiladero (Gorge)
de los Gaitanes and the Caminito
del Rey, along with the reservoirs
of the Guadalhorce, which many people
from Cordoba and Seville visit and
camp in during the summer. Within
this larger nature park is the Ardales
Park, a nature museum and the archaeological
museum of the municipality. On a
visit to Ardales one can stay in
hotels, inns or camp sites right
through the year.
Los
Gaitanes
The 2,016
hectares protected by Desfiladero
de los Gaitanes Beauty Spot are
located in the interior of the Subbetica
mountain range, and create a spectacular
landscape. They include an impressive
gorge through which the River Guadalhorce
flows, between enormous slabs of
stratified limestone. It is considered
to be of immense ecological importance.
Its walls, which are up to 400 metres
high, are home to a variety of plant
and animal life, a clear example
of adaptation to a vertical way
of living.
This
is a small pathway made of iron
which hangs from the cliffs of the
Sierra Huma inside the "Desfiladero
de los Gaitanes". The passage
was constructed between 1901 and
1905 and is considered a job of
great engineering for it's time.
Once this passage received the honor
of King Alfonso XIII crossing it,
but unfortunately now it is to dangerous
to use.
The area’s most characteristic
botanical species are: the Aleppo
pine, umbrella pine, holm oak, eucalyptus,
hawthorn, gorse, white rockrose,
cistus and black juniper.
The
higher zones are inhabited by the
mountain goat. Smaller animals such
as the blackbird and the swift live
in the lower areas, near the water.
The middle section of the gorge
is home to the falcon, kestrel and
goshawk, as well as other medium-sized
birds of prey. The peaks are nesting
areas for large birds of prey such
as the golden eagle and tawny vulture.
Other inhabitants of this Beauty
Spot are the wild cat, the genet,
the dormouse and the mongoose, which
can be seen by the more daring from
a hanging walkway known as “The
King’s Path” (”Caminito
del Rey”), which crosses the
gorge at an altitude of 100 metres.
Ronda
Nestled
in the hillside just 60km from Marbella
and 116km from Malaga within Andalucia
is the wonderful town of Ronda.
The town which is steeped in history
is dominated by the fact that the
town is split in two sections by
a 100m deep gorge.
There
are various features of note in
the town. The amount of gold in
the cathedral is pretty staggering
- it is easy to imagine what it
must have been like in the age of
discoveries. Many people will be
fascinated by the oldest bullring
in Spain and its museum.
Mijas
Mijas
is constructed to 2 levels: Mijas
village and Mijas Costa.
Mijas village
is known as one of the most beautiful
of Spain. Perfectly preserved, they
emphasize its,her whitewashed house,
and its narrow streets and pedestrian.
With multitude of shops it is one
of the villages most visited of
Costa del Sol. One possesses the
only bullring squared of Spain and
exceptional conference to the whole
Coast.
At the foot of
the hills of the same name, Mijas
possesses typically Andalusian houses.
Its traditional status as a mountain
village has been combined harmoniously
with a major tourist complex located
in the coastal enclave of La Cala,
where there are 12 kilometres of
beaches. The whitewashed streets
of historic quarter, Arab in layout
and nestling in the mountain landscape,
houses some buildings of interest,
among them some churches and hermitages.
The surrounding area, meanwhile,
preserves some archaeological sites,
testimony to the town's rich prehistoric
past. Not forgetting other attractions
Mijas offers, such as its gastronomy,
inherited from Andalusia's rich
culinary tradition and its deep-rooted
custom of fairs and festivals.
