Tuesday 28 January
We rode in a comfortable inter-city coach up into the high country to this historic city perched atop a deep gorge, El Tajo, which carries the Rio Guadalevin, the volume of water a rare sight in semi-arid Andalucía. The new city dates from around the 15th Century, and is linked to the old Moorish town, by the ‘new’ bridge, Puente Nuevo. Along with the iconic bullring, Plaza de Toros, this dates from only the 18th Century, and was the second to cross the 100-metre-deep chasm.
Ronda is famous as the birthplace of modern bullfighting, where matadores stood to face the raging animal, instead of challenging him from horseback. Narrow cobbled calles open out into attractive squares surrounded by varied and interesting architecture, and there is a curious museum, called the ‘Centre for the Interpretation of the Brotherhood Culture’, which holds artefacts belonging to a number of these Catholic organisations that are based in Ronda. Brotherhoods date back to the 14th Century, when they began to be established as voluntary organisations of men who took on responsibility for maintaining order on behalf of the nobility. Members are still recognised as leaders and ‘pillars’ of the local community who embody values of social responsibility. During Holy Week (that leads to Easter), they process through the city wearing monk-like habits and sometimes tall conical hats with fabric covering their faces, carrying huge plinths of lifesize Biblical characters and saints.
Ronda was made famous by travellers of the Romantic age, becoming popular as a stopping point on the gentlemen’s Grand Tour of Europe. The city has been written about by numerous well-known names, including Washington Irving, Orson Welles and Ernest Hemingway. We enjoyed spectacular views from a number of vantage points around the city, and treated ourselves to a piece of locally-produced cheese and a bottle of olive oil to take home. Although a little breezy, we sat at a pavement café for both lunch and afternoon tea before rejoining the coach for the spectacular ride back down the steeply wooded mountains to the coast, occasionally spotting flowering almond trees.