October 13, 2015
“Ronda is the place where to go, if you are planning to travel to Spain for a honeymoon or for being with a girlfriend. The whole city and its surroundings are a romantic set… Nice promenades, good wine, excellent food, nothing to do…”
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)

We had a steep climb up to Ronda

The old mill below

The new bridge (1751) spans a deep chasm between the old and new towns

The old bridge, 16th century

The first bridge across the Guadalevín River may have been Roman

Inside the Arab Baths, the best preserved in Spain

Steam room of the Arab Baths, with roof vents

The old road into Ronda from the Arab Baths

Mudejar walls & entrance, 14th century (restored 1975)

Almocábar door (C13th) with 3 successive gates, part of the heavy fortifications

After the reconquest of 1485, the main Mosque was converted to a Church

All that remains of this mosque is the minaret (14th century)

Arab influence remains in the array of sweets

Entrance to Ronda's Bullring

For hundreds of years the houses of the tiny pueblo of Júzcar (POP 220), 22 klms and a short taxi ride from Ronda, were whitewashed – just another Pueblo Blanco.

In 2011, Sony Pictures were looking for a pueblo to be painted blue for the opening of The Smurfs movie (Los Pitufos in Spanish). The villagers were reluctant, but a wad of cash and a promise to repaint the Pueblo white swayed the vote. 4,000 litres of vivid blue paint later, Júzcar became Smurftown. 

Six months on Sony came back to re- whitewash the houses. Thanks, but we will stay blue said the whole village – from a handful of visitors each year over 80,000 people passed through in the six months!

Mountain village of Juzcar, once white, now Smurftown

Streets of Juzcar

You'll find the town pharmacy here

Everything is blue, including the 16th century church - Smurfs welcome