Ronda, Picasso Museum, Garden Malaga, Andalucia popular tourism tourist attractions

Andalucia 10 most popularly tourism & tourist attractions. 3-5.

Here is the second part on the list of Andalucia 10 must popularly tourist attractions after the golf courses, shopping centre, street markets, searching property, and beaches.


3. Ronda.

“A man is not from where he is born,
but from where he chooses to die”
Orson Welles (1915-1985)

The great film director said this during a visit the finca of Ronda’s famous Ordñes bullfighting family when ha asked to have his ashes scattered in a well in the garden. His wishes were carried out when he died in 1985.

Welles had been filming the legendry Corrida Goyesca. This is held every September at Ronda’s Plaza de Toros to honour the artist Goya who made a number of paintings of matadors in action here, and Pedro Romero, the father of modern bullfighting, who first laid down the rules for fighting on foot, not horseback. Ronda’s is the oldest and most venerated bullring in Spain and the neighboring museum displays an outstanding collection of bullfighting memorabilia.

Ronda is equally famous for its Tajo Gorge, the breathtaking sheer ravine dividing the old Moorish quarter from the main town, connected by a spectacular 18th century arched bridge. In For whom the bell tools, Hemingway record how prisoners were once thrown alive from the bridge into the river, 130 meters below. Several restaurants have panoramic terraces built into the side of the Gorge. Despite being on every tour operator’s excursion itinerary, the crooked, winding streets o the historic quarter are always enchanting.

Other must-sees: The White Villages of Ronda. Although Andalucia boasts many pretty pueblos blancos, this group are the best known. The most spectacular, perched on a high limestone spur, is Arcos de la Frontera.

4. The museo Picasso, Malaga.

"When I was as old as these children, I could draw like Raphael. But it took me a lifetime to learn to draw like them!"
Picasso (1881–1973)

Picasso was born in 1881 in a five-story building in Malaga’s historic quarter that is now the global headquarters for the Picasso Foundation and a research centre for art historians worldwide. A stone’s throw away is the museum, funded be Picasso’s heirs in the beautiful 16th century Palacio de Buenavista, a stunning model of Andalusian architecture with a delightful courtyard. During the renovations, Phoenician foundations dating from 6BC were unearthed beneath the building.

Although Barcelona’s Picasso Museum houses a more extensive and representative collection, the permanent collection here comprises 155 artworks-19 paintings, plus sculptures, drawings, ceramics and prints. From the autumn 2006 sees the opening of a new temporary exhibition, Picasso Muses and Models, a review of the important role women play in Picasso’s work, seen through 70 portraits and nudes.

Other must-sees: The Contemporary Arts Centre (CAC Malaga), close to the train station, was officially open in 2003 by the Their Royal Highnesses the Infanta Cristina and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarín, Dukes of Palma. There are regular temporary exhibitions while the permanent collection comprises from 400 works showing the artistic tendencies of the 20th century.

5. The Gardens of Malaga.

“There was a forested garden as lovely as the Botanico in Madrid.”
The Dangerous Summer by Ernest Hemingway. (1899-1961)

Hemingway was writing about the gardens surrounding what is the now famous La Consula Hotel School, and which are currently closed for restoration. But Malaga is not short of stunning gardens to visit. The city’s Botanical Gardens were designed in the 1850s by the grand-daughter of the British Consul who brought back all manner of exotic species from her travels – Australian banyan, giant sequoias from California, bamboos from Asia, lofty eucalyptus and 30 types of palm. The shady tree-lined paths are a perfect retreat from the August heat.

At Churriana, just outside Malaga on the Coin road, El Retiro is another historic, subtropical garden that was formerly part of the 17th century private estate of the Bishop of Malaga. Transformed during the last five years into a combination of botanical garden and mini zoo, the new Senda el Retiro is lusher than ever with many more trees and plants, including rare orchids and 600-year-old cypresses which provide a gorgeous backdrop for 150 species of tropical birds. Aquariums, frog ponds, reptile, bat and butterfly enclosures have been added and among the more unusual residents are giraffes, zebras, antelopes and capybaras.

Other must-sees: The The Castillo de Gibralfaro. It was built in the 14th and 15th centuries by the Muslim King Yusuf. It has a panoramic view over the Mediterranean and inland. The fortress has an interested military museum.


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