Ronda, Spain

[ 1 ] October 31, 2011 | patwilsonIV

Ronda is a city like no other. Set in the Andalusia hills, this city is one of the most precarious settings I’ve every seen. The Guadalevín River splits the town into two sections, each part separated by a 350-foot deep canyon carved out by the river.

Cliff Town of Ronda

A River Runs Through It

After leaving Granada we jumped in our Skoda Fabia, which we nicknamed “Fabio”, and set off on the two and a half hour journey to Ronda. The B&B we booked, Arriadh Hotel (www.arriadhhotel.com), was about 5km outside of Ronda so that was obvious first stop. As we approached our B&B, we quickly realized that the GPS coordinates kindly provided to us by the hotel staff are not located on any road – at least not recognized by our trusty Garmin. Winging it, we pulled into a small village traveling up a hillside road in the general direction of where the GPS was pointing us. Before we knew it we were barreling down a dirt road that felt like it hadn’t been resurfaced in 20 years – thank goodness we got the insurance on the rental. A few ooh’s and aah’s later from my anxious passenger we pulled into the B&B – a very nicely restored rural farm house. We were greeted with overwhelming warmth and kindness as the owner operators gave us all the information on what to see, do, and eat in Ronda.

Dropping our bags in our room, we jumped back into the car, bumped back down the dusty road and drove toward Ronda. Our first stop in Ronda was the Plaza de Toros de Ronda, the oldest bullring in Spain. Being cheap, we opted not to pay the eight euros each to go inside (bullfighting artifacts didn’t look too exciting) and settled with photos outside.

Spain's Oldest Bull Ring

With only a few hours of sunlight left we made a b-line for the city park behind the plaza de toros famous for its city vistas of the cliff face and precarious buildings encircling the gorge.

Ronda Cliff Town

Looking down the Cliff

This surreal setting is only heightened by the Puente Nuevo bridge. Constructed entirely out of brick and stone, the Puente Nuevo bridge was built in the late 18^th century and joins the two sections of town. Most impressively though, this bridge spans one of the deepest parts of the canyon towering almost 400 feet above the canyon bottom below.

Atop the Ronda Bridge

With feelings of vertigo in full swing atop the bridge we strolled over the bridge into the old town toward a small walking path we spotted on our map. After quite a few steps, platforms and ramps, the path eventually led us about halfway down the cliff face with a perfect viewing angle of the Puente Nuevo bridge and surrounding city.

The Spanish City of Ronda

Rocking Out

By the time we made the half-hour trek back up the walking path and into the old city it was dark and time to get some chow. After passing by a studio filled with prospective flamenco dancers awaiting instruction, we stopped into one of the local cheap eats suggested to us by the staff at Arriadh Hotel and ordered up some traditional adalusian tapas while we watched the bull fight which was playing on the TV in the back of the bar.