Apologies for the long delay from our last post! Alex and I spent 11 days traveling through Andalucía, Spain’s southernmost, most populous, and second largest autonomous community. We’re now settled in Sevilla for our last long stay. Here’s a brief overview of where we went in our week and half of travels. Alex may follow up with another post or two sharing more details and his observations.
Málaga
Málaga is the largest city on Spain’s “Costa del Sol” but not a preferred destination. Most visitors depart their plane at the Málaga airport and then head to a ritzy beach town, like Marbella or Puerto Banús.
Alex spent his year abroad in Málaga, so he was keen to revisit it after 12-13 years away. And I’d never been to Málaga (or anywhere in Spain) before this trip. Our tour of the “old stuff” began with a Roman amphitheater in the heart of the city.
The amphitheater is at the base of the hill leading to the Alcazaba, meaning fortress1, and Castillo del Gilbralfaro, the castle at the top of the hill. We started with the Alcazaba. It was a little run down and not nearly as nice as the palaces in the Alhambra, which we visited a few days later. Still, it’s always nice to walk around a nearly 1,000-year-old structure!
The next day, we hiked up to the Castillo del Gilbralfaro, which provided amazing views of the entire city. And contrary to our opinion of Málaga’s Alcazaba, we decided that the Gilbralfaro was more interesting than its counterpart in the Alhambra, confusingly also called the Alcazaba.
We also visited the Málaga Cathedral. We went toward the end of the day and were bummed to not realize until leaving that we could have bought a combiticket to walk up to the roof had we come earlier in the day. However, the evening light2 came in at the perfect angle to illuminate the stained glass beautifully (which didn’t photograph nearly as well as it looked) and the hand-carved wood of the choral pews (which Alex did photograph quite well).
We also toured two museums. Alex wanted to visit the Centre Pompidou Málaga, an outpost of a Parisian modern art museum, because it wasn’t there when he lived in the city. The exhibit was so bizarre that I could probably write an entire post just on how bizarre it was, but I’ll leave that possibility open for a future Alex-authored post.
We also visited the Museo de Málaga, which is half city history museum and half art museum. We only visited the city history floor, but with admission for non-EU citizens a mere €1.50, it was a great deal, especially as the museum had fascinating artifacts from neolithic, Phoenician, and Roman times.
Also, the building housing the museum, an 18th century palace, was beautiful.
Granada
The main reason to go to Granada is to tour the Alhambra, the fortress from which the Nasrid dynasty ruled over southern Spain from 1230 to 1492. (Different Muslim rulers controlled the Iberian Peninsula from 711 until the end of the “Reconquista” in 1492. Andalucía—derived from the Arabic Al-Andalus—was the Muslim stronghold.)
The Alhambra looks impressive from a distance. Our first night, we walked to the Mirador de San Nicolás, up the hill on the other side of the river. It provided a great view back of the Alhambra. Unfortunately, we weren’t the only ones admiring the view; it was uncomfortably full of people.
The Alhambra is a large complex of different structures: the Alcazaba, the original fortress and oldest structure; the Nasrid Palaces, a series of amazingly ornate palaces; the Palacio de Carlos V, a neoclassical building constructed by the Holy Roman Emperor which now houses two museums; and the Generalife, the summer palace set off down a long garden from the other structures.
The whole thing is magnificent, especially the Nasrid Palaces. It was one of the most amazing man-made historic structures I’ve seen on this trip—and in my life—up there with the Coliseum, Pantheon, Vatican, and Florence’s Duomo.
I could share dozens of photos, but I’ll leave you with a few highlights.
Unfortunately, we decided that the Alhambra is the only reason to go to Granada. Otherwise, Granada felt like being back in Florence, as the whole old town was overrun with tourists—with the uncomfortable addition of shops selling visitors a tacky pseudo-Arabic/Muslim experience. There were dozens of “authentic” Arabic tea houses and bakeries selling Arabic sweets. In juxtaposition to the Arabic/Muslim influence, the city proudly displayed its role in the Reconquista—it was the last Islamic city conquered by Isabella and Ferdinand—with a giant (and glaring colonial) statue in one of the main plazas of “Isabel La Católica” receiving Christopher Columbus.
We also visited the Capilla Real (Royal Chapel aka crypt) and Cathedral. The crypt was intended to be the burial place of all Spanish rulers, but only Isabel, Ferdinand, and their two children are buried there. Spanish rulers after them were buried at El Escorial, a huge complex outside of Madrid. As a result, the crypt was not very interesting. It wasn’t nearly as impressive as Westminster Abbey, the only other royal crypt I’ve visited, which both houses dozens of entombed people and also is a magnificent Gothic structure.
The Cathedral was nice but not a must-see. It was built atop the site of a mosque (more on this theme in future Sevilla posts). Interestingly, the entire interior is painted white.
Los Pueblos Blancos
These towns (literally, The White Villages) pepper—er, salt?—the countryside across Andalucía. In total, we spent time in five Pueblos Blancos—Frigiliana, Casabermeja, Arcos de la Frontera, Ronda, and Ojén—and we drove in and around several more. I’ve plotted the names of those I remember in this map.
They’re picturesque to drive past, especially when the sun shines on them directly, with all their whitewashed, terracotta-roofed buildings. For example, one of the first villages we passed was Antequera.
One of our favorites was Olvera, which is located up on a hill with an imposing castle and cathedral. We made more than a 180-degree loop around the town, allowing us (well, me, as the passenger) to appreciate it from a few angles.
We passed Almodóvar del Rio on the train ride to Sevilla. Its castillo, up on the hill beside the town, dates to the 8th century. We failed to take a good photo from the train, so here’s a photo I found online.
We both also quite liked Ojén, which is close to Marbella and where we stayed on our final night before returning our rental car. (Interestingly, we stayed at a small hotel run by a Dutch family and largely visited by Dutch and German speakers.)
The villages were nice to look at, but there wasn’t much to do them, aside from meander the narrow streets...
...gape at people maneuvering their cars through impossible openings…
…spot strange, racist tourist entertainment…
…in the case of Ronda, admire the huge bridge over the gorge…
…and, if you’re me, make friends with the local felines.
Natural Beauty
Granada is located just outside of the Parque Natural Sierra Nevada, which features the tallest mountains in Spain. The tallest mountain, Mulhacén, rises over 11,400 feet. We had grand plans to go hiking one day in Granada but after walking over 9 miles to, from, and within the Alhambra, we decided to take it easy the next day.
We were better able to appreciate Spain’s natural beauty as we drove to and through Los Pueblos Blancos. Our first stop was the Torcal de Antequera, a nature park with interesting rock formations north of Málaga.
It was cloudy when we arrived, but as we walked the shortest path—only a 1 mile loop—through the park, the sun began to shine. We spotted several deer in the park and also had to wait for a giant herd of domesticated sheep to cross the road as we made our way out.
A few days later, we drove through the Parque Natural Sierra de Grazalema, reportedly the rainiest part of Spain though we experienced clear skies. We passed through several white villages and spotted a terrifying flock of 50+ griffon vultures.
After many days of traveling, we took the train to Sevilla, the capital of Andalucía, where we’re staying for another 3.5 weeks. We’ve already gotten lost in the medieval streets, and I’ve already taken another Spanish-language yoga class. We will share more as we explore the sites and take a few day trips.
Spanish words beginning with “al” are derived from Arabic.
Spain is on Central European Time (the time zone of France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, etc.) despite being geographically south of the British Isles, which are on Western European Time. It means the sun rises and sets very late in Spain.