Walking Holidays in Spain - Frontier Holidays - GR7

GR7 - 7th March

Montejaque - Ronda 3hrs 30 mins - 9kms
A lovely meander of a day helped in no little part to a significant improvement in the weather.

We walked out of Montejaque just as the tots of the village were wondering up to the village square dressed up in carnival costume.

A zig zag cobbled path led the way up through a gash in the limestone cliffs facing the village; a route used in May for carrying the Virgin up to her Ermita overlooking the village.

Crossing a small ploughed plateau past a sheep farm we were presented with our first views of the cliffs of Ronda, skirted above by the ancients historical buidings of the old town. With a feeling of returning all too soon to 'civilisation' all too soon, the group opted to stop on the edge of an olive grove full of wild flowers to enjoy an early 'elevenses'.

Within a few minutes the sun suddenly burnt off all the low grey clouds, and a glorious blue sky day was revealed. We passed a couple of groups of puffing walkers and cyclists struggling up the steep slopes that we were descending before crossing the railway line in the bottom of the Rio Guadiaro valley.

Before we knew it we were entering the Vega, a rich fertile area below the tufa cliffs of Ronda. Traditionally full of arable fields and small holdings some of this area has been recently planted with vines.

We doubled up the steep cobbled trackes before turning off to start our last steep slope of the whole holiday. Through the remains of an ancient Moorish gateway we headed upwards to the seemingly impenetrable cliffs, and managed to breach them with some more zig zagging, before emerging onto the Plaza Rilke.

The calm and tranquility of the shaded square, along with the tinkling of a small fountain and the gentle soulful melody of a classical guitar suddenly seemed quite at odds with our recent experiences.