Axarquia Awoke from Its Slumber

www.theolivepress.es the olive press - November 15 - 28, 2012 21 ll about the xarquia A Issue 148 November 15-28 2012 A PEAK PRACTICE: Hiker Frigiliana-based writer David Baird arrives at the top of the has witnessed the land of rebellion El Lucero summit and resistance turn into a true tourist paradise How the Axarquia awoke from its slumber AKING up on the summit of El Lucero is a little like having a ringside seat at the birth of the world.As the dawn sky shifts from purple to gold, you glimpse the mountains of Africa rising Won the horizon above a silver sea. To the north, pine forests swim in the mists of Granada province, while below stark crags thrust up from dark val- leys to catch the first rays of dawn. Here and there a column of smoke reaches up from a fara- way farmhouse or hamlet. You are high above the Axarquia, the 988-square-kilometre eastern corner of Malaga province. And El Lucero, a lime- stone buttress soaring 1,700 metres above sea-level, is as good a place as any to appreciate this region’s natural grandeur. I had spent the night shivering in the ruins of an old Civil Guard post atop the mountain in order to research a book on the region. It is one of a number of relics left from the bitter struggle that during the 1940s and early 1950s saw guerrillas vainly attempt to overthrow the Franco regime. Their leader was a ruthless, charismatic character named El Roberto and legends about him and his band still circu- late among the villages of the Axarquia. For quite a while after his rebellion was crushed, not a lot happened in the Axarquia (which comes from the Arabic sharquiyya, meaning the eastern zone). Turn to Page 22 22Axarquiathe olive press - November 15 - 28, 2012 special www.theolivepress.es From Page 21 While tourists began flocking to Torremolinos and Marbella Europe’s best climate in the 1960s and 1970s, it slumbered. Poor communications meant the Eastern Costa del Sol was largely bypassed by travellers. And that’s the good news. For this zone largely avoided the worst aberrations of the development boom. Mass tourism has not swamped it and the jetset has focussed on other parts, thank goodness. The locals of Frigiliana, one of the least-spoilt villages, seem to have heeded the words of King Juan Carlos when he visited in 1998. Highly im- pressed, he commented: “You have a very pretty pueblo. Do apartment blocks to the high mountain ranges everything to conserve it.” now line the sea- behind that not only help This is also largely the case front. Decent bring cooler breezes in sum- in villages around the region, amenities were a mer, but keep out the cold including Comares, Riogordo EXQUISITE: Scenic Sedella and (right) long time in com- north winds in winter. and Sedella (pictured right). Comares’ beautiful Mozarabic church ing, but the town One thing Torrox can legiti- When I came here first, step- has spruced itself mately claim: it stages one ping off the bus in Nerja one up, with an excel- of the coast’s biggest annual December when fewer than No longer. These days the Ax- ropeans have either bought medieval Arab travellers, as lent promenade beanos. On a Sunday in mid- a dozen foreigners were win- arquia is truly part of the 21st second homes or arrived to ‘a beautiful city with a fine and decent eating possibili- December tens of thousands tering in the town, land was century, with all the ameni- live permanently under the mosque and an abundance ties. And now Spanish visitors scoff vast quantities of migas, selling at about two pesetas ties you could expect... and sun. of fruit trees’. flock in too. a belly-filling dish served with a square metre and wine was all the pros and the cons that Along the coast apartment Although now surrounded by Just along the coast, the first torrents of Moscatel wine. 10 pesetas a litre. come with it. blocks have sprouted where modern development, the old language at Sweet, high- Great, for the visitor. But not Ancient vines and olive groves once the main crop was town is well worth visiting. bars and res- alcohol wine for the locals. A medieval life- have been uprooted to make sugar cane. Cane was king Cervantes passed this way as taurants along and raisins are style prevailed. The nearest way for urbanisations and for 1,000 years, but the last a tax collector and even men- the Torrox- In 1959, five Axarquia spe- hospital was in Malaga well villas. Hundreds of old farm- refinery on the coast closed tions Velez in his epic novel Costa seafront cialities. over an hour away up a pot- houses and village dwellings in 2006. Don Quixote. would appear locals discovered In autumn you holed road and ambulances have been renovated and Fortunately, although con- Nearby is Torre del Mar, once to be German. vast caverns with will see grapes and dentists were unknown. thousands of northern Eu- crete has scarred parts of the a huddle of poor fishermen’s Torrox insists laid out to dry coast, it hasn’t ruined it and dwellings. According to one it has the best amazing rock on paseros, inland the Axarquia is still an story, things took off when a climate in Eu- earthen beds escapists’ paradise of sleepy local builder built apartments rope, although formations facing south. villages and dramatic sierras. to house a string of Malaga its neigh- No wonder the By far the largest town is businessmen’s mistresses. bours, such as wine is often Velez-Malaga, praised by Soon after, the Germans Nerja, are inclined to argue termed ‘bottled sunshine’, Ibn Battutah, greatest of started buying and scores of the point. This all stems down which you can verify by at- tending Competa’s celebrated wine festival in August. Be sure too to try the raisins, a luscious, mouth-watering A region experience. And for an idea of the work involved in produc- ing them visit the Museo de la Pasa in Almachar. of variety On the coast the biggest sin- gle reason for the Axarquia becoming an internationally- known tourism venue lies un- derground: la Cueva de Nerja. On January 12, 1959, five local boys discovered these vast caverns with amazing rock formations and traces of Paleolithic man. General Franco himself came to view this phenomenon. Today in Andalucia only the Alhambra palace in Granada draws more visitors. The rest of Spain finally woke up to Nerja’s attractions when Verano Azul, a popular TV series, was filmed there. Talk about a reality show, Each of the Axarquia’s 31 towns and villages Riogordo is the place to be on Good Friday and when Chanquete (an old fish- have their own distinct charm and a history more Easter Saturday. You are likely to meet Roman erman in the series) died, eventful than you may imagine. centurions strolling down the main street and Nerja Town Hall flew its flag In El Borge, which is famed for its raisins and as Galician shepherds refreshing themselves in a at half-mast. And today an oil the birthplace of El Bizco, a blood-thirsty, one- bar. Hundreds of villagers take part in the annual painting of Antonio Ferrandiz, eyed bandit, you will find street names reflecting Passion Play. who played the part, hangs the fact that today’s mayor is a little to the left of High up in Comares you will find a fascinating there, while one of the boats Mao Tse-tung. town going back to the Phoenicians, where the from the series takes pride of Tiny Macharaviaya has interesting street names Arabic Moors later created a key settlement, tes- place in the town. too...Pensacola, Mobile, New Orleans. They re- tament to which is the Patio de Comares in the Often you will hear more Eng- call the days when it was known as Little Madrid, Alhambra. lish than Spanish in Nerja. thanks to the Galvez family who achieved power In Colmenar, meaning bee hive, you will appro- Back in the Napoleonic Wars and wealth and aided the USA’s fight for inde- priately find the region’s honey museum and a the British bombarded Ner- pendence. charming village of cobbled steep streets. ja’s fortifications into rubble, but the locals don’t hold it www.theolivepress.es the olive press - November 15 - 28, 2012 23 Like something EVOCATIVE: The boat Verano Azul from the celebrated soap opera and (inset) buskers in Nerja street out of The Hobbit BREATHTAKING: Eloise Horsfield describes how she Rural idyll and ended up on a ‘village hop’ tour of the (inset) a church Axarquia after getting lost tower in Colmenar against them. Brits run many local businesses E arrived after nightfall, Surrounded by towering peaks such as de Miguel Rey, one of just 10 beekeep- and are the mainstay of having left Granada late Rompealbaldas and Maroma – Mala- ers left in the village. tourism. in the afternoon and wo- ga’s highest mountain at 2,068m – the “And while there is more modern tech- Without doubt the most ven through the Andalucia village boasts fabulous views, stretch- nology today, the process is basically spectacular scenery Wcountryside in our hire car. ing all the way to the sea, some 20 the same and you can still get stung.” along the Costa del glimps- Aiming for Colmenar, we had some- clicks south. He added: “The honey here is more ex- Sol lies beyond Nerja.

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