Spain and Dubai Day 10. Cadiz to Granada via Ronda Spain. 4 Oct 25

We got down to the lobby and checked out at about 9:55, ready for our 10am pick up and drive to Ronda. Seems our driver was shy, he waited for us out at the car. I eventually went out and asked him if he was there for us, and he was. We got away a bit before 10:10.
The road headed into the hills soon after we left Cadiz and became windy. Olives and grains appear to be the main crops, the same as we have seen everywhere we have been in Spain. There were old forts dotted around the landscape on top of hills, continual reminders of the history of these lands and the signature whitewashed houses were in every village we passed.
We crossed into Malaga Province and into the Alcantara Municipality within the Andalusian autonomous community of Spain. I love the visuals these place names give you.
It’s about a 2hr drive to Ronda. Ronda’s history dates back to its 6th century bc Celtic times, then was ruled by the Romans and Visigoths, Phoenicians, the Moors and most recently in the 15th century by the Christian forces of the Crown of Castile. The famous and well photographed Puente Nuevo bridge was built in the 18th century, the town has a dramatic landscape and like so many others, a rich blend of architectural styles to match its history.
We arrived in Ronda at midday, we were dropped off at the Iglesia de Nuestra Senora de la Merced Church at the top of the hill on the “new” side of the city. The city sits almost 750m above sea level and is part of the Siera de las Nieves NP.
We turned right and went into a very green garden/park called Alameda del Tajo. At the end of the path into the park there was a lookout over the valley a long way below us. A spectacular view of the countryside.
We walked a bit further down the hill and found the Bullring. Ronda has a great tradition of bullfighting and the ring is one of the oldest in Spain and is made entirely of stone. It has one of the largest bullrings in Spain, but only seats about 5000 spectators. We didn’t go in due to limited time and inclination.
We got to the bottom of the hill and Ronda’s most famous attraction, yes “that” bridge, the Puente Nuevo. The bridge spans the gorge between the two sides of town and sits about 100m above the bottom of the gorge. It was tourist central, with people everywhere taking advantage of every possible vantage point. We got photos from all the angles (except from a distance).
From there we walked into the old town in search of lunch. Deb found a place up the hill a little and a few streets back off the main road. It was much quieter than the main street, we got a table, had a cup of homemade lemonade and ordered lunch, a goat’s cheese salad for Deb and chicken wings for me. We shared, I think Deb’s salad won for taste and healthiness, I won for protein.
While we were waiting for our food, Deb went off and explored the area. She came back with lots of great photos and stories of a really interesting area.
After lunch we walked back up to the church at the top of the hill on the new side, our driver picked us up at about 2:10pm and we headed to Granada.
There are quite a few very orderly olive groves/farms, all the trees lined up in grids. Every now and then in the very dry countryside you can see grain fields. It must be tough growing grain in the hilly, rocky and very dry environment. There are also wind farms in pockets in the hills and the very occasional solar farm. The main type of rock in the area is peridotite. An ultramarine igneous rock, the dominant rock type of the Earth’s mantle. (Kimberlite pipes that diamonds are found in are made of this rock)
We arrived in Granada at the foot of the Sierra Nevada Mountains a bit after 4:10pm, checked into our hotel. After settling in and getting some information from the concierge, we went out to have dinner, our plan was Tapas for dinner then go to the Granada Cathedral to sit in on a service to take in the atmosphere and acoustics. We got to the restaurant and found that Tapas was only served at the bar, there was no room at the bar so we decided to have a la carte. We got a table outside, I ordered Ox Tail and Deb had a Salmon and Jamon Salad. Both were nice and the atmosphere was great.
While we were eating we could hear a lot of music and crowd noise coming from the main street. Turns out it was a large vocal peaceful march in support of the Palestinians. It was very colourful and lively, with lots of singing and dancing.
After dinner we walked across the road from our hotel, through the protest march, and tried to find the entrance into the Cathedral, I mean, how hard could that be! Well, we couldn’t find a way in to the Cathedral, but did could large Catholic Procession, apparently it was following the official Semana Santa route. We found it just in front of the Cathedral and the route eventually loops back to where it started, but at the rate they we marching that was going to be very late in the evening. We watched and followed it for a while everyone in the parade was very well dressed and the highlight was a huge silver paso (or float), it was carried by 40 males. Some of them were complaining about very sore shoulders when the stopped for a rest, so I gather the paso was solid silver!
We left the parade and had one last attempt to find the service in the Cathedral. We eventually walked right around the building and found we were only about 50m from the door when we started our last look, but we walked the long way!! Any way, we finally went inside and sat quietly on the side while the Mass was concluding. We got a little singing right at the end. The service was held in a chapel, adjacent to the Cathedral, it had very high domed ceilings, a Gothic Renaissance styles with a touch of Baroque.
We had a bit of a look around the chapel after the service concluded and then went back to our hotel and put our feet up.