White villages of Cádiz: why it is one of the essential routes in Spain

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In the white towns, a thousand and one paths unite legends of bandits and haute couture furs.

Prehistoric fir trees and award-winning payoya goat cheeses.

Tangles of streets with a Moorish aura and select yoga schools.

Although with its back to the sea, the Sierra de Cadiz is on all maps.

It is one of the most traditional tourist routes in Spain.

Like the

, it also keeps intact the call to the traveler.

Grazalema, Olvera, Setenil, Arcos de la Frontera... They invite you to get lost in its hamlets, to climb its cliffs, to feel a landscape that evokes times gone by.

It's the usual, yes, and it's nice.

It's a pleasure to explore these corners of the southern geography over and over again.

Although it is not about combing through the 19 towns on the route, but about snacking here and there, and leaving something for the next trip.

Nor is it about spending our lives behind the wheel, but about taking a walk to soak up the environment.

The village of El Bosque, brimming with nature, can serve as a starting point.

It is right where one of the emblematic walks of the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park begins, or ends: the

.

Sheltered by poplar, ash and elm trees, among rose bushes, brambles and honeysuckle, and in the company of barbels, trout and, if lucky, the elusive otter.

This excursion shows the friendlier, leafier and greener side that the interior of this province displays.

Two hours later, or 5 kilometers further on, the hamlet of

emerges , white on green.

The name (from the Arabic "sons of Muhammad") inevitably recalls its Andalusian past, as do its narrow streets and whitewashed houses.

A small tavern with views of the river serves typical mountain dishes: tagarninas stew, asparagus omelette, lamb and

soup ...

Benamahoma.

Between Benamahoma and Grazalema the least important thing is the distance, which is not great.

The important thing is the

We are facing one of the most valuable botanical treasures of the peninsula and another of the mandatory routes in the mountains.

The fir is the only tree that was able to survive the last alpine glaciation, a

that can reach 25 meters in height.

We are lucky that one of the largest concentrations of this species in the world occurs here.

Now, this is no longer a short walk, but rather a more serious

of 10.5 kilometers, around four and a half hours.

It is also convenient to do it from Grazalema and, one more important fact: it is necessary to obtain a permit from the park office.

If the presence of fir trees reminds you more of Canada than of Cádiz, it is because we forget that Grazalema is the place where it rains the most in all of Spain.

It is also the heart of the mountains and one of its inexcusable stars.

Oh, and the highest municipality in the province and the most mountainous... And, to mention all its titles, a member of the club of the most beautiful towns in Spain.

The firs.

Through the streets of Grazalema

In

it is impossible to get lost, but you have to try.

Its streets go up and down forming an ancient framework where there are only

.

Churches like that of San José stand out towards the sky and recall the power of bygone times.

Just like its noble houses, built in the 18th century and topped off with their large wooden gates and floor-to-ceiling windows, full of potted flowers.

Grazalema became very rich thanks to the drapery industry that produced

, made with pure

A craft that has reached our days and can be explored in the Textile Factory and Museum, where they explain the entire manufacturing process of yesteryear, from the raising of raw wool to the final finish.

It is also art and handmade that is practiced in the cheese factories of Grazalema.

Although in this case, the merino sheep competes for the leading role with the native

He willingly tells the traveler at the

cheese factory , with a shop in front of the Iglesia de la Encarnación, very close to the Plaza de España and its terraces and taverns.

They buy the milk from the town's farmers, although "it's not that the goat is special," they explain.

"What makes cheese special is the grass and the rain from the mountains, as well as how it is cured."

The most sold, by the way, is the semi-cured goat, but there are rosemary, paprika and a long etcetera.

Payoya goat.

Zahara de la Sierra

is close.

The display of natural charm continues.

On one side it is protected by the mountain and the silhouette of its castle, and on the other it rushes towards the reservoir of turquoise waters.

It is another of the beauties of the park and hides a hiking route, the Green Throat, which runs through a canyon and is simply overwhelming.

Not to be missed in

is its bullring, polygonal and carved into the rock.

Nor is its cemetery, considered one of the most beautiful in our geography.

Benaocaz

, for its part, preserves all the Arab flavour.

The usual walk takes us through

with the original cobblestones.

Now, there is another recommended route, there always is, for the most active tourist.

This is the

, one of the most typical excursions in the natural park, which takes us to the next destination: Ubrique.

Ubrique.

Ubrique's skin

It is not the most picturesque, but it has other hooks in this town pressed against the rock where everyone, directly or indirectly, lives from the artisanal leather industry.

What they say is true: Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Loewe, Chanel, Prada... All the priests of the fashion industry manufacture their luxury items in this corner of Cadiz.

In order not to remain in the anecdote, it is worth visiting the old Capuchin convent that houses the

There, with self-confidence and a lot of knowledge, the guide Paco Solano acts as guide on a journey through the history of this craft that dates back to Roman times.

"Today we have some

, explains Paco.

"Ubrique offers firms maximum quality and maximum discretion".

The museum receives the visitor with an endless number of

that hang from the ceiling.

It is the key tool of the petaquero or leather goods, a true symbol in Ubrique.

The oldest pieces in the museum are the

, the little bags where everything needed to make a fire and to make a cigar was kept, but the largest bag in the world is also on display, according to the Guinness Record: two meters high by 1 60 wide and 250 kilos in weight.

between salt and asanas

Ubrique has its oldest part, with streets where there is no lack of a flower.

After wandering around and buying some leather souvenirs, we will have completed another of the traveling rites on the White Towns route.

A tour that can be enriched with two more stops.

One in the

, where salt is still extracted today for gastronomic purposes.

The geological lesson is exciting, but also the strange salt landscape in the interior of Cádiz.

The other proposal, very different, is the one offered

a prestigious yoga center where people from all over the world come to take care of themselves.

In addition to yoga, the permaculture project that they have underway is very interesting and up-to-date.

Issues on how to organize crops, maximize water consumption, enrich the land... In short, how to be in tune with the environment and how to protect treasures such as this Cádiz mountain range in the future.

PRACTICAL GUIDE

How to get

there

By AVE to Jerez de la Frontera and from there by car in the direction of Arcos de la Frontera.

The Route of the White Towns of Cádiz is made up of 19 municipalities.

Where to sleep.

Tugasa

Rural hotel in the village of El Bosque at the entrance to the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park and next to the Majaceite River.

From 55 euros/night.

Hotel with its own organic farm dedicated to the practice and teaching of yoga in Villamartín.

More information.

On the Andalusian Tourism website.

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