Nerja Today

Nerja - Sayalonga - Árchez - Salares - Canillas de Aceituno - Nerja

 

This nice little round trip is about 60km which you can do as a half-day or full-day outing. Leaving Nerja, follow the old N-340 coast road - always nice to see what is going on along the seashore - until you get to the turning for Algorrobo where you head off up into them there 'ills. The scenery as you wind on up the country roads is excellent and there are plenty of stopping places en route.

Bear in mind that all these places are firmly on the hillside and the streets, therefore, can be quite steep in places. Well worth it, though, wandering through labyrinths of narrow streets with their whitewashed houses adorned with plants and flowers.

 

For more information and pictures about each town or village, simply click on the above links.

 

Suggestion: Breakfast in Sayalonga, Tapas/Lunch at Andalucía.Com in Canillas de Aceituno.

 

TOLOX

Fuente Amargosa

The baths in Tolox were begun in 1867 and the waters, nitrogenous and calcic, make them suitable for the treatments of pulmonary and renal disorders.

CASARES

La Hedionda

These Roman baths were, according to legend, constructed by order of Julius Caesar himself after the sulphurous waters apparently cured him of a skin disease.

ALMARGEN

Arroyo Salado

The iodized waters of this stream are supposed to be beneficial for digestive disorders or degenerative disease of the bones.

CARRATRACA

Balneario Histórico

Although at the moment is in the throes of reconstruction, the Baths at Carratraca are one of most important Málaga province from an historical point of view. The sulphurous waters were discovered during the 19th century.

PERIANA

Baños de Vilo

The sulphurous Baños de Vilo are in the village of Periana, although they are closed at the moment for reconstruction. The waters are a constant 21 degrees and are said to be beneficial for diseases the skin and during the 18th and 19th centuries were held in high esteem for their medicinal qualities.

GRANADA

Alhama

The baths of Alhama de Granada are Roman in origin, their properties being suitable to fight stress and for respiratory and locomotive diseases. The name 'al hamma' is Arabic in origin (it means 'baths') but the therapeutic, thermal springs have been used as baths since Roman times and you can bathe in the warm waters.

 

 Lanjarón

In the Sierra Nevadas you have the Baths of Lanjarón, one of most complete sites in all of Spain with five different water springs. Langarón will probably ring a bell for most people as it is the name of one of Spain's most popular bottled mineral waters.

If you go to the Map and then type in each town name, markers will appear and you can have a visual representation of the route.

The village of El Acebuchal, known as the 'Lost Village', dates back to the 17th century. Nestling in the beautiful Sierra de Almijara and Tejeda Natural Park, it stands on what was an important route to Granada for the merchants of Nerja, Torrox, Competa and Frigiliana. The village was abandoned in 1949 due to fighting between the resistance movement and units of the Civil Guard. The reprisals which followed the fighting forced all the inhabitants to move to neighbouring villages. In 1998, Virtudes and Antonio 'El Zumbo' García returned to the village they had left as children with the intention of rebuilding it, and that same year the first house was renovated. By 2003 there was mains electricity and by 2005 the streets had been repaired as more people returned. On June 25th 2005, the first Mass for fifty years was celebrated as the village of El Acebuchal was inaugurated.

 

This tiny village is 7km from Frigiliana, 12km from Competa and 13km from Nerja. You can reach it by vehicle, on horseback or by walking, whichever you decide you will find the views en route are 'magnificent'. If when you get there you decide you want to stick around for a few days and enjoy the peace and tranquility, there are 5 'Casas Rurals' offering accommodation for two to four people at reasonable rates. The old Inn, once the resting place for the mule trains on their way to and from Granada, has been restored as a nice little tapas bar.

 

To drive from Nerja, head to Frigiliana and then go through the town and out onto the Torrox road. After about five kilometres, just past Bar El Cerro, you will see a greenhouse on your right and a small turning to El Acebuchal. Easy to miss! This four kilometre track will take you to the village with breathtaking views along the way, so don't hurry!

 

 

 

A couple of centuries ago there were only a few major routes through the Axarquia, so it is hardly surprising that these became the haunts of various bandits, brigands and highwaymen. These Andalucian Bandoleros, with names like El Tempranillo and Pasos Largos, preyed on travelers and took then refuge in the hills. The stuff of legends.

 

This little route follows in the footsteps of the infamous José Maria Hinojosa Cobacho, better known as 'El Tempranillo', once even referred to as the King of the Sierra Morena.

 

Jauja

Jauja is a small village and the birthplace of our illustrious bandido. As well as seeing the house where El Tepranillo was born, the local archives contain copies of his birth and baptism certificates.

 

Badolatosa

Surrounded by mountains, making access difficult, this was a good place to set up base and, according to most sources, Badolatosa was the centre of operations for El Tempranillo and his gang of misfits.

 

Corcoya

About a kilometre outside the village of Corcya is the Ermita de la Fuensanta. El Tempranillo was a deeply religious man and often visited this sanctuary....and also using the nearby caves, still preserved today, as a hiding place when on the run. It was also in this 'sanctuary' that El Tempranillo received his royal pardon from King Fernando VII in 1832.

 

Alameda

On the road from Alameda to Mollina is the cortijo Buenavista and it was here on September 22nd 1833 that El Tempranillo was mortally wounded by another bandit, El Barberillo. He died the following day, aged just 28 years, and was buried in the patio of the local church. A cross bearing the inscription 'King of the Sierra Morena' stands over his grave in what is now the old cemetery.

 

If you go to the Map and then type in each town name, markers will appear and you can have a visual representation of the route.