Mijas, Spain - An Andalusian Village

As I had already visited Malaga on my previous cruise on this ship, I decided that this time I would go on a walking tour of a traditional Andalusian village that is located on a mountain slope about 30 km away. This was the village of Mijas.

I am so glad I did. Mijas was an intriguing village that reminded me of the Greek islands, in that every single building was white, with a reddish roof. However they differed from the Greek buildings in that the edges of the buildings were not rounded - they were very box-like with sharp straight lines. But at least their warm-coloured roofs and the occasional pot plants hanging from the walls softened their appearance. The outdoor cafes and the many shops with brightly coloured ceramics and other colourful goods on display also helped break up all the harsh white. 

Before this tour, I had heard of Andalusian horses, of course. This was the region from which the famous Lippizaner horses of Vienna originated, so I hoped I would see some of their horses out in the fields. Instead I was totally surprised to see large numbers of - not horses, but donkeys - in the town. The donkeys were in all the streets, taking tourists for rides on their backs or drawing little carts or more formal carriages. Our guide told us that the locals realised they would make far more money out of their donkeys by using them for tourists instead of using them to help plough their fields. And the donkeys were very popular because the town was very steep. (Mind you, the donkeys smelled dreadful in the heat!) 

Our group meandered through the town and then climbed up to the lookout at the top of the town - not on donkeys, but on good old ‘Shanks’s pony’. What a challenging walk it was in the heat, too. On the way we saw two very different churches, one inside rocks, as well as the local bullring. After a bit of free time we were very glad in the end to flop down in the coach to go back to the ship. 

The drive along the ‘Costa del Sol’ (coast of the Sun) between the village and the ship was in itself worthwhile, with mountains on the one side and the sea and coastal villages down below on the other side. The mountains were not exceptionally high. The vegetation on them was not what you would call ‘lush’ - more the kind you expect to see along a coastline where there is a lot of salt in the air and a shortage of rain.  Our guide told us the area is prone to fires, which I can well understand, especially as there were some eucalyptus trees en route. For those of you who are not Australian, these trees are particularly susceptible to, and in fact promote, rapid devastating fires because of the highly inflammable eucalyptus vapour they exude. I have often heard news of fires in Spain - now I understand why. 

I hope you enjoy the photos. 

Part of the old wall of Malaga, seen from the coach as we headed out to the countryside.

Driving into the village.

View of the village from a gathering place for tourists and their coaches. 

Just three of the many donkeys tied up ready for hire. They looked rather sad. There was even a life-size sculpture of a donkey in the tourists' meeting place. Many tourists had their photo taken whilst sitting astride the bronze donkey. 

This was the  'Church of the Virgin of the rock'.  It was apparently built after a local farmer saw an image of the Virgin Mary sitting on a rock asking him to build this church in a rock in her honour.

The next two photos show something of inside the church, where there were a number of items on display. 

A building made from rocks instead of the usual style of building.

One of the busy narrow streets.

Seen on the pavement of one of the streets!

Starting the climb up to the top of the village to the lookout. The next photos show the views along the way.

One of the views from the lookout.

The church near the top of the village.
The next photos show something of inside the church. There also was a small sculpture of Jesus riding a donkey! 

The bullring opposite the church is shown in this photo and the next.