Salobrena Town

Salobrena is an Andalusian white town near our campsite. This is a typical steep street that we ascended on our way to the castle.

The houses show a simple elegance in spite of the angle of the street.

The beautiful shrine at the top of the street looks like a dead end, but steps carry on upwards from both the left and right of the Virgin Mary. It looks like she might be there to point out the paths for those confused.

We pass through delightful little squares like this one at the top of the long flight of steps from the shrine. 

Onwards and upwards! But very picturesque, with ornamented cobbled paving, so well worth the effort.

Now we have arrived at the castle, the highest point in Salobrena. It was built by the Moors (the Arabs) in the 10^th century and has only just opened to the public after major restoration that is still not complete.

It’s a traditional looking castle for those days with big, strong walls set on a good defensible position like a mound, or hill, or rocky outcrop.

The view over the battlements is extensive although a little too misty to see the distant mountains. However, I did zoom in on the last sugar cane processing factory in Europe, which closed in 2006. The Moors brought the sugar cane crop with them in the 10^th century when they settled on this coast, and found the climate around Salobrena to be ideal for it to flourish. The area became a major sugar producer until the plant was introduced to the West Indies by Spanish explorers where it thrived even better. Thereafter, the home industry went into a slow decline. 

The fort’s practical purpose didn’t prevent the builders from including artistic design features, like the circular patterns in the brickwork on the top of the water cistern.

Leaving the castle, we descended the steep streets back to the car and drove a few miles to the coast. A glance back shows the rock on which the castle is built; you can see what a good defensive position it occupies.

We end on a sad note, from the Spanish Civil War. Its tragedies are overshadowed by the Second World War that started soon after, so are not much reported outside of Spain.

This monument below describes the flight of thousands of refugees heading east from Malaga to escape Franco’s advancing troops. The fleeing refugees, mainly women, children and old folks, were bombed and shelled by Franco’s forces as they retreated. At the Guadalfeo River near Salobrena, swollen by winter rains, many drowned as they tried to cross in panic to escape. In that complete journey between 3,000 and 5,000 refugees perished.

We enjoyed an interesting day out, rounded off with a very enjoyable Chinese meal at €5.95 (£4.60) for the 3 course set menu.