Working our way further west to Sevilla both the towns of Ronda and Setenil came into focus. They had been brought to my attention by other travellers and joined the army of little red tags (points of interest) on my google map of Spain. Ronda had some nice van parking where there was nothing of the kind in Setenil so we headed for Ronda. Only when I looked for bike rides around Ronda I noticed that Setenil was only 16 km away.
We arrived early in the parking and found it very adequate so we had time to go for a stroll through town.
Most of Ronda lies on top of a steep hill. The only way into town that does not involve steep inclines is from the north-east – we learned this the hard way the next day. The south part of town – the old part – lies on a steep cliff and is separated from the norther quarters by a deep gorge. This gorge and the Puente Nuevo (the new bridge) that spans the abyss are the most popular attractions of Ronda. There are several lookouts – some of them subject to an entry fee – that give you magnificent views over the gorge, the bridges (there is also the puente viejo, the old bridge) and the surrounding lowlands. We found the views to the west specially beautiful.
Both the old town and the newer part are a lovely place to stroll. It’s not exactly off the beaten track though, there are tons of tourists and prices are accordingly.
Ronda lies between two mountainous national parks. The Sierra de Grazalema to the west extends south all the way to the coast and the Sierra de las Nieves lies to the south-east. Both parks stick out for their extensive woodlands. It appears that in contrast to the rest of Andalucia there is no shortage of surface water. It is a nice change from the dry, desert landscapes we had explored earlier.
The next day we decided to go for a bike ride. Our parking had some Wikiloc tracks posted on the notice board which all did not quite suit us, so I puzzled together my own track with several variations including a detour to Setenil. Biking in mountainous territory can be quite exhausting for flatlanders so I tried to optimise the amount of ascent included.
Unfortunately there is only one way to leave Ronda without going through a deep valley which makes it hard to plan a round trip that is both manageable and interesting. We set out to the north-east riding on dirt tracks through beautiful olive groves, roughly following the train line out of Ronda. 16 km later at the north-eastern corner of the track we faced the option to descend to Setenil. Gaylyn was highly motivated and I did my due diligence informing her that the town lay at the end of a steep 5 km / 250 m altitude descent that would be very unpleasant to come back up.
We descended to Setenil on a curvy sealed road doing between 48 and 52 km/h on most of the descent. The 5 km were covered in just over 10 minutes – I would have been slower in the van.
Setenil is known for its houses perched under ancient caves. Unlike the caves in Guadix that are dug into the sides of soft rocks with their chimneys sticking out on top, these dwellings are hidden under large natural overhangs. They are virtually using the rocks to save building a roof. Otherwise Setenil is a typical white Andalusian town sticking to the sides of a steep valley crowned by a church and an Alcazaba – a fortress from Moorish times. We had a lovely time exploring the caves and the little alleys leading up to the top.
Getting back to Ronda was the challenge. Going up the same way we came down to town did not seem a good option. I have learned from experience that if you can roll down a hill at 50 + km/h you will likely be crawling back up at 5 to 8 km in your lowest gear (unless you are using an electric bike). That would give us roughly an hour of ascent on a busy road – not an option.
So we chose the off road track following a less steep ascent through a valley following a little creek. A beautiful choice with some little challenges on parts of the track as it crosses the creek every now and then. There was another fast descent into the valley surrounding Ronda and then the the bitter end – the ascent back into town. As we hit the road that leads straight up the last slope to town a young Spanish women called out to us in Spanish: “You cannot ride up here – its too steep!”.
Unfortunately there wasn’t another way to do this so we pushed the bikes for a kilometer trailing behind our new friend who called out to us every now and then informing us about bad, crazy people living along the road and other local intel.