September 5, 2019

September 5, 2019

This morning our whirlwind tour of Spain continues. We leave Sevilla this morning heading southeast. The terrain is mostly rolling hills of hay fields and olive groves. After about ninety minutes, the hills start to become very steep and we arrive at the small town of Ronda.

Ronda is the birthplace of modern Spanish Bullfighting and home of one of the first bullrings. We walk through the modern town of Ronda to the Plaza de Toros. We tour the dirt arena and then into the back passages where the bulls are fed through a series of wooden gates onto the field. I saw a bullfight in Madrid many years ago and it is much more than the teasing of the bull that we see on American TV. Eventually the bullfighter attempts to place a sword right behind the head of the bull. Horseman are also part of the action. The Ronda Bullring has a museum that explains very briefly how it evolved from war training. The sport was initially practiced solely by nobles.

Our guide then gave us a walking tour of the Old Town. Ronda was one of the last holdouts of the Muslim Moors. This is because it sits atop a mountain crag protected by high cliffs. Not until the 18th century was a bridge built across the gorge improving access. Now most of the population lives on the new side. After leaving our group Aimee and I make our way down to a vantage point where we can get a better photo of the new bridge and gorge.

We then walk through the Old Town to the far side checking out the many museums, historic buildings and alternate entry points. It is a quick tour because today the city is celebrating their heritage with a festival called Feria Goyesca de Ronda. Many of the local ladies are dressed in the finest outfits from the era two hundred years ago when the Romantic Spanish artist Goya created his many matador paintings.

We reach the far side of the town when the Parade starts and we watch a line of Spanish horseman and carriages pass by. After the parade we have a group lunch at a Panorama Restaurant overlooking the Bullring.

Finished with lunch we continue southeast till we hit the Mediterranean Sea at the Costa del Sol. We check into our high-rise beachfront accommodations and head across the street for drinks and pizza at a beach bar.