| Andalucia (Andalusia) Andalucia covers a vast area, most of the lower southern part of Spain, so as you would expect it is an area of contrasts and variety. Although the mountain tops are no stranger to snow with ski resorts just south of Granada the climate is close to perfect and its landscape is what most of us picture as typically Spanish. When we are thinking of the quintessential Spain and conjure up images of whitewashed houses decorated with wrought-iron grilles, lithe flamenco dancers, proud caballeros on prancing horses and bulls charging in the arena, we are really thinking of Andalucia. In the minds of most people, this southern region has come to represent the whole of Spain, yet its character is markedly different from that of Catalunya or Castilla. It was the Arabs who named this land Al-Andalus and infused it with their spirit, which endures to this day both in the landscape and the ways of the people. Seville, Cordoba, Granada, Ronda
The white houses, the flamenco, and even the horses are part of the legacy of the Moors and so is the character of the Andalucians, their proud reserve and hospitality, their exuberance at fiestas. Centuries after the Moorish retreat from these shores, the palaces and gardens, mosques and castles built by long-dead caliphs still adorn the great towns of Seville, Cordoba and Granada, attracting thousands of admiring visitors every year. The white villages of the Sierras, usually nestling under the ruins of an Alcázar (fortress), are another Moorish bequest, with names redolent of their distant past. Gaucin, Grazalema, Zahara, Setenil and countless others in the Serrania de Ronda, are now well on the tourists track, some even hosting small communities of expatriates. Ronda, dissected by a dramatic ravine, claims to be the birthplace of bullfighting and its Plaza de Toros is one of the oldest and most atmospheric of Spain. Cadiz to Huelva and on to the Rock of Gibraltar
The countryside is well irrigated, green and fertile, dotted with fincas, the typical farmhouses, now so coveted by would-be expatriates longing for the unhurried pace of Spanish rural life. In such idyllic surroundings it is difficult to imagine that the hedonistic paradise of the Costa del Sol is only a short drive away. Pueblos Blancos like Coín and Mijas or the little market towns like Alhaurín, Cartama and Alora, have managed to maintain their essential character just 30 minutes from the hot spots of Marbella and Puerto Banús and the high-rise blocks of Fuengirola or Benalmádena. Malaga, the gateway to the region, is within easy distance and offers a great deal more than just a quick way in or out of the Costa. Further west, beyond the familiar resorts, past the rock of Gibraltar, lays a part of Andalucia still relatively undiscovered, in the provinces of Cádiz and Huelva. The town of Jerez, renowned the world over for its Xeres or Sherry wine, takes just as much pride in its Cartujana horses and the annual colourful Fiesta del Caballo. Nearby, the vast Parque Nacional de Donana is a rest stop for many species of migratory birds and home to a wide variety of other animals. Huelva, at the estuary of the Tinto river, is closely associated with the voyages of Christopher Columbus, who sailed from Palos de la Frontera to discover America, changing the destinies of Spain and the world forever. | |
