Andalucia

The most fashionable donkeys you'll ever see live in Mijas, Spain.

Mijas is a small town in the Costa del Sol region of Spain. While Mijas has its share of historic attractions, dining and shopping, the donkeys are what make Mijas different.  Donkeys seem to attract tourists as easily as donkeys attract flies.

A-372 is one of the main roads going from Ronda to Arcos de le Frontera.  This roadway, like so many others in Spain, has so much scenery it is hard not to stop every 5 minutes to soak in the views.

The landscape in this part of southern Spain is varied.  Expect to see everything from vast plains to tall mountains during the 1 hour 30 minute drive from Ronda to Arcos de la Frontera.

Life goes at a slow pace in this stretch of Andalucia roadway. Sleepy little farm houses dot the A-372 countryside. Passing a tractor or two is to be expected.

The only thing fast around here is a Mercedes rapidly approaching in the rear-view mirror.

Cueva del Gato (Cat Cave) is an underground cave in the Benaojan area west of Ronda in the Andalucia region of southern Spain.  The cave is part of the Sierra de Grazalema mountain range that includes several cave systems. 

Only expert spelunkers actually traverse the inside of the cat cave - a risky endeavor requiring expert-level skills.  Visiting both ends of the cave can still be a rewarding experience for the casual traveler looking for Spain's off-the-beaten-path outdoors destinations.

This short 30 second video shows the results of a short hike in the direction of the Sima de Hundiero entrance of the cave. Along the way is an old deserted homestead, cork trees, lots of plant life and some spectacular views of surrounding mountains and the valley below. A longer hike down the side of the mountain goes to this entrance of the cave.

I just returned from an excellent holiday in the Andalucian region of
southern Spain and have lots of new tips on how to have a great holiday
in the Andalucian region of Spain. I've been here several times now, but was able to get to more of the "off the beaten path" areas
this time.

The weather was absolutely perfect and so was the scenery and food.

On the list of places visited:

• Ronda
• Grazalema
• Grazalema National Park
• Cadiz
• Puerto de Santa Maria
• Malaga
• Puerto Banus
• and more

Amongst the many excellent foods:

This Costa Del Sol postcard is part of my small collection of vintage Spain postcards. After scanning the postcard I did some color correction and other edits to make the color and details stand out more.

The postcard appears to be from the 1960s or 1970s and offers a glimpse into Costa Del Sol's past. The scene is from Mijas, an Andalucian Costa Del Sol pueblos blancos (white houses) village in Màlaga province.