The photos don’t do the mountains of the Serrania de Ronda the justice they deserve, and words even less so. From Ronda the mountains rose steeply, devoid of vegetation, craggy rock faces enveloped us. We then traced the road along a narrow ridge with views to either side. Wild horses, larks and eagles kept us company when we stopped for breakfast to digest the splendour of the mountains.
We had hoped to stop in Gaucin, the only town on the ridge, but couldn’t find a parking spot; another day perhaps. There were plenty of motorbikes weaving their way around the hairpin bends, and the cafes in Gaucin were packed with bikers admiring each others machines – a sign that told us it was the weekend.
The descent from Gaucin happened all too quickly, and we found ourselves feeling a bit flat, like the lie of the land at Castillar de la Frontier where we are parked in another free overnight spot for autocaravanas (campers).
Castillar d l F is in two parts, the old town and proper frontier of the Muslim Moors during the Christian Reconquest in the 12-15th centuries, and the new town where we are camped. A distance of six miles separates the two. The old town is on a hill and the new town is on the flat and was designed in the 60s and inaugurated in 1970.
The thing that strikes us most about the new town is a lovely friendly and relaxed atmosphere, it’s very Spanish but they are welcoming to us travellers, possibly glad of the additional income in their tiny shops. They try out the handful of English words that they know with confidence and a smile.
The other noticeable thing in the new town is a clever road system. There’s the main road divided by a central reservation with palm trees and shrubs, and to either side of each road there’s a service road for use of slower vehicles for the shops and houses. This makes it sound like a broad American street, but it’s not, it’s just wide enough for one vehicle, and when we cycled it there were only a few cars. It’s a modern well designed town with an old fashioned laid back vibe. We liked it so much we visited every shop, cafe and restaurant to show our support.
We had intended to cycle to the Mediterranean coast which we have so far avoided for fear of crowds. But once we caught sight of it in the distance with its row upon row of identical villas and apartments, we quickly turned off along a track into the hills and nature again, we aren’t ready for the Med just yet!
