|
The Guadalhorce Valley is one of the Costa del Sol's most idyllic locations. The valley follows the course of the Guadalhorce River from the mountains in Antequera to its entrance into the Mediterranean Sea between Torremolinos and Malaga. The stunning views offered along the Guadalhorce Valley and from its many white villages make this a highly desirable setting in which to buy Spanish property or even a smallholding here in Andalucia.
Protected by mountains on either side, the Guadalhorce Valley enjoys its own unique microclimate. During the summer months, locations in the valley are spared the extreme heat of other inland areas on the Costa del Sol. During the winter, the valley often remains warmer than its surroundings.
While there is plenty of opportunity to purchase rural Spanish property along the Guadalhorce Valley, the main focus for property buyers are houses in the white villages that line the valley. Alhaurin el Grande and Coin are the largest towns, and are very popular with both foreign and Spanish buyers. These areas have an excellent selection of shops and you will never need to travel further, for anything you may need for the house and home. In addition to this is an equally excellent selection of restaurants, bars and cafeterias. You are spoilt for choice.
Outside the towns, the white villages are all uniquely constructed in the classic Mediterranean style, and comprise whitewashed buildings, crowded around narrow winding streets. Guadalhorce village property offers buyers a true taste of traditional Spain that is far removed from the tourist-oriented towns along the Costa del Sol coastline.
Adjoining the Guadalhorce region is the area of Sierra de las Nieves, which is an unspoilt natural paradise lying in the central part of the province of Málaga. It forms a mountainous fringe that borders the nearby western Costa del Sol. The nine main towns of the district – Alozaina, Casarabonela, El Burgo, Guaro, Istán, Monda, Ojén, Tolox and Yunquera – share a common natural, cultural and architectural heritage.
The district borders Costa del Sol, the Guadalhorce valley (Valle del Guadalhorce), the Ronda Hills (Serranía de Ronda) and the district of Guadalteba, making it a strategic location well served by public transport, and with superb road links to Malaga, with its newly improved “Pablo Picasso” International airport, and all of the Costa del Sol.
In this rural and hilly district mankind still lives in perfect balance with nature. The pueblos blancos of the Sierra de las Nieves are all knitted together by the whimsical twists and turns of the Sierra and still retain the rich tapestry of styles and cultures that have peopled this land since Roman times..
In the heart of the district lies the Parque Natural National Park which boasts one of the world’s biggest Spanish fir woods, spanning over 3,000 hectares. The reserve also has one of Andalusia’s biggest populations of mountain goat. Together with the roe Deer, these are the park’s two native species of hoofed mammals.
The park with its unpaved roads is a watershed area between Atlantic and Mediterranean landscape and climate, with its own original and varied flora and is listed by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve.
Geologically, this region boasts the world’s biggest peridodite massif, a gigantic primary-era batholith with serpentine outcrops. All this explains the mineral richness of the spa water in thermal baths.
The district is a place for adventurous leisure pursuits such as horse riding, canyoning, canoeing and kayaking, eco-routes in off-road vehicles, balloon trips, trekking and hiking.
Livelihood
Crafts and products may be discovered through thematic tours such as the local crop routes – the table olive harvest or the chestnut routes, the lime-gatherer or Calero route – one of the honoured crafts still living, and the pottery route starting at El Burgo’s pottery workshop. Other routes are the honey or the craftsmen routes as well as the cultural routes and outings to the towns of the district.
A variety of events, festivals and religious processions are also ways to discover local specificities:
- · the Festival de La Luna Mora in Guaro which goes back to medieval souks shows traditional Andalusian arts and practices and their Christians, Muslims and Sephardic Jewish influences
- · the Festival Folklórico de Tolox with traditional song and dance
- · the Castillo del Cante flamenco festival in Ojén
- · the Mercado de Carboneros y Oficios Antiguos – Market of Charcoal Burners and Ancient Crafts – in Monda
|
