Trips through Spain - Torcal

Antequerra first page

Dolmens in Antequerra

A trip to the West

Wednesday 10th May 2000

The day started well enough with us having breakfast again at the little cafe opposite, finishing the packing and paying the 10,000 pesetas that the Hotel Nueva Enfante cost for two nights: cheap, cheap, cheap. I drove slowly round the town and out on the Torcal road which gradually ascended through the usual roadside fields of wild flowers to where a side road went off to the West. This was strictly a tourist road which went up to a building that contained the Museum of this limestone district, which was very well done & had explanations in English as well as Spanish. The scenery was quite amazing as the limestone had bedded in alternate hard and soft layers and the softer layers had worn away somewhat leaving stacks of slabs. The folding of this area had been mushroom shaped, so the slabs at the top were horizontal but at the sides were sloping down in what appeared to be all directions. There were sheep living up here as well and a spectacular view over towards the sea. There was a group of British walkers properly booted up and preparing to cross this stuff. I warned them that it often takes longer than you think to cross limestone pavements.

We left and gradually crept down the road to the south, avoiding the usual way to Malaga and continuing down the valley system which has many houses that had been done up, presumably for rich people from Malaga. The river in the gorge below us was very, very muddy. Then the expensive houses died out and we soon saw why: the arse end of a brand new vault dam was facing us, apparently complete but the workmen where obviously dotting the i's and crossing the t's to finish it. So, quite a lot of the valley we had driven down will be flooded soon. There was much climbing up and down on this road and we climbed up out of the accursed valley and had several more miles of up and down before we came to the suburbs of Malaga.

Torcal from Villaneuva	Villaneuva from Torcal	On Torcal