RONDA and its mountains

Seal of Ronda

RONDA Rural Mountain Idyll

Ronda is a town north of Marbella and situated in a mountainous area some 750 meters above mean sea level and can be reached by a serpentine road with steep cliffs. What exactly should be counted into Ronda mountains is not entirely clear to me but at least Montejaque, Benaojan, Grazalema, Ubrique, west of the town and the highest peak Torrecilla at 1900 meters seem to be counted in. The area is very beautiful with its white mountain villages and meadows that reminds me of some areas in the european highlands. You can see eagles circling above your head and olive grows with domestic animals grazing on the slopes.

Puente Nuovo in Ronda

Grazalema, one of the white mountain villages

Grazalema mountains

The town of Ronda is cut into two halves by Rio Guadelevin that forms El Tajo canyon (first of three pictures above). Across runs El Puente Nuovo bridge built in 1793 that has collapsed at least one time I hear. It raises 120 meters above the canyon. Ronda has some 37.000 inhabitants and an origin in several civilizations (Celts, Phoenicians, Romans and Arab). Ronda also hosts the oldest bullring in Spain built in 1784. Both Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles has spent their summers in Ronda writing about the bullfighting traditions among other things (Wikipedia).

Getting cloudy up there!

Ronda on the cliffs

Ronda bullfighting  arena

Once driving down from the Ronda mountains I was startled by clouds moving over the tops. The bulk of it was spreading over the top next to me so I got only a slight feeling of them.  From Ronda we continued our tour to western Andalucia by heading towards ARCOS de la Frontera, another white town not too far away, then to CADIZ and back along the Mediterranean coast. Read more about this next.