Ronda, the largest of Andalusia’s White Towns, holds a spectacular location atop El Tajo gorge, a large cleft in the mountain carved out by the Guadalevín River , that separates the city’s circa -15th-century new town from its old town. It´s known to be the birthplace of bullfighting.

The town´s fame was further spread by Ernest Hemingway, who wrote, “There is one town that would be better than Aranjuez [another beautiful town in Spain] to see your first bullfight in if you are only going to see one and that is Ronda. That is where you should go if you ever go to Spain on a honeymoon or if you ever bolt with anyone. The entire town and as far as the eye can see, in any direction is a romantic background….”, and by Orson Welles whose ashes are buried in the town.

South of the gorge, Ronda’s old town dates from Islamic times, when it was an important cultural center filled with mosques, baths and palaces. To the north, the ‘new’ town is settled atop steep cliffs, with parks and boardwalks looking majestically over the mountains.