I didn't really anything about Malaga, Spain before we arrived. Phoenicians founded the city of Malaga in the 8th century BC. It is on the Mediterranean’s Costa del Sol in Southern Spain, 62 miles east of Gibraltar and 90 miles north of Africa. Remnants of its Roman, Moorish, and Christian past are tucked away between bars, bodegas, and museums in every plaza. Mostly a farming community, they originally were sugar cane growers making rum, and a sugar cane honey called millata. Now they grow mangoes and avocados which are well suited to the region.
My excursion of choice was a “4x4 Andalusian Adventure”. We took a bus to the first stop where we had a quick walking tour of the village of Frigiliana. Built in the Arabic/Moorish style, the thick stone walls of the buildings were whitewashed to keep things cool. The streets were narrow for shade during the day. I definitely got my workout going up and down the hilly streets.
Our guide told us how their motto is "tres culturas" - the three cultures that have been blended together in harmony - Muslim, Catholic, and Jewish, as they have been occupied by all three groups at one time or another. They have great respect for each other and live together in peace.
We piled into the 4x4s, 4 or 5 to a car, and headed to the mountains of Sierras de Tejeda, Almijara y Alhama National Park, where we were treated to traditional villages and sweeping vistas.
We road up the mountain on some paved roads then soon switched to gravel and dirt roads to make our way down the valley, across a river, and back up the other side of the valley to the summit. Along the way, we made our next stop in The Lost Village of Acebuchal. The village, established in the 17th century, was along the route connecting Granada and Malaga, serving as a stop-off point for weary travelers.
During the Franco period (1939-1975 after the Spanish Civil War), the town was used as a shelter by the maquis, the anti-Franco guerrilla group. The Guardia Civil raided the village, expelled its inhabitants, and razed the town. The village was abandoned for decades. It was at the time dubbed the ghost village and the lost village. But families had dreams of rebuilding their ancestral homes, and in 1998 the process of reviving the town started. Slowly, a home here and a home there were restored, electricity and water were brought into the town and reconstructed faithfully in the Andalusian style. Now there is a restaurant, a chapel, and over 30 homes, most of which are available for vacation rentals to hikers that love the area.
After some time to admire the landscape, we headed to our final stop, Competa, where we went to a café in the town square for a glass of wine with typical Spanish tapas. And some more uphill walking on stone-paved streets. The tapas were tasty, but the wine of the region is much too sweet for my taste. They let the Muscat grapes overripen on the vine to get the extra sugar for their regional specialty, Mosto wine.
I had another wonderful day exploring this wide and diverse planet we live on. That evening, we sailed by the Rock of Gibraltar as we made our way to Casablanca.
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