THE CULTURE FESTIVAL OF LOS GUÁJARES

Every year, Los Guájares holds a three day festival of culture comprising various events such as local drama group performances, exhibitions, activities for children, workshops and live music. The three villages - Guájar Alto, Guájar Faragüit and Guájar Fondón - take turns to host the festivities, and this year it was the turn of Guájar Fondón to do the honours.

Sunday, the final day, was celebrated by an open air mass, in the square by the church, to the accompaniment of a female sevillana choir, resplendent in flamenco costume. Afterwards, there was free paella for all, cooked in a giant pan in the street below. While people were queueing for their paella, they were entertained by a group of musicians dressed in mediaeval costume.

Exhibitions of paintings, crafts and photography were on display in various buildings around the square, and I was particularly impressed by the mimbre exhibition which consisted of baskets, hats, sandals, mats, etc., woven from the esparto grass which grows in the surrounding mountains. This, sadly, is a dying art and the examples on display were crafted by a local octogenarian called Antonio.

The atmosphere, typical of village events, and enhanced by perfect weather, was relaxed and pleasant.

LAS CRUCES DE MAYO

Throughout Spain, at the beginning of May, the arrival of Spring is celebrated with the festival of Las Cruces de Mayo. Here, in Southern Andalucia, Spring has been with us for some while but this is no excuse for not celebrating the fiesta of Las Cruces.

In Granada and large towns like Motril, this is a major fiesta which lasts 3 days. Garages and empty shops are converted by the neighbours into temporary tapas bars, often with live music to which girls and women of all ages, resplendent in their flamenco dresses and embroidered shawls, dance the sevillana. The centrepiece of the celebration is a cross bedecked with flowers.

In the little village of Guagar Alto, our Cruz de Mayo was a humbler affair. The cross of flowers was erected in the square outside the church, and on Sunday afternoon the villagers congregated to enjoy food prepared on the spot and distributed free. Migas was cooked in a large cauldron and flavoured with sausages, fried peppers and bacalao. A barrel of beer, to which the villagers could help themselves, was also set up. The sun was warm and the village streets were saturated with the scents of jasmine, citrus blossom and roses.

SPRING WALKS 4

Our fourth walk starts at the entrance to Guajar Alto where you turn left up the concrete lane off the main road. Following this track will lead you up through the avocado and olive orchards, the ruins of Cortijo de la Viña del Monte and the pine forests.

After about 2 hours and 15 minutes, you will reach a T junction at an altitude of about 1,000 metres. The left track will take you down to the village of Lentegi. We turned right along the track which follows the ridge of the Sierra de Entresierras. For a while, there are spectacular views of the coast and the resort of Almuñecar, while to the right you can see the snow clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada.

The track then moves away from the coast and continues through a forest of large flowered, white cistus bushes, and through an avenue of pines. Eventually, it passes the flat summit of Cerro del Fuerte, the craggy mountain that dominates Guajar Alto. The views from here are superb and a camera is essential. Towering, fantastic rock formations loom above the track and below are precipitous drops. Eagles circle overhead and mountain goats perch on the ridges, ready to flee.

Gradually, the path descends until it joins the road that runs alongside the Rio Toba, about 7km upstream from Guajar Alto. A right turn here takes you back to the village.

This walk, which we did this morning, is about 20km and should take between 6 and 7 hours.

SPRING WALKS 3

This morning, a perfect Spring day, we set off on the third of our walks from Guájar Alto. We began by following the same route as our first walk: through the village, heady with the scent of jasmine and orange blossom, down to the river Toba, and turning right past the swimming place. This track winds through Juncales and up to the pine forests. This time, when we reached the T junction, we turned left.

This lane meanders through the pine forests for about 10km. Looking back, there are spectacular views of the mountains stretching down to the coast in a haze of blue. Ahead, the clarity of the light enhances the deep blue of the sky. As we climbed higher, we saw a lone eagle soaring above us. The pine forests echoed with the singing of innumerable small birds. Eventually the lane bears left and passes through groves of almonds before meeting the gravel road from Guájar Alto to Albuñuelas. This is a good place to stop for refreshment or a picnic.

From here we turned left to make our way back down to Guájar Alto. On the right, you can see an old, stone kiln which was once used for the extraction of juniper essence. Further down, on the other side of the river, is the Cascada de la Toba, Guájar Alto’s most dramatic geological feature. The road follows the Rio Toba through its valley below the towering mountain, El Fuerte. Gorse and broom blazed brilliant yellow and in damp, shady places we saw maidenhair fern and the fluffy white flowers of white snakeroot. We arrived at the village a little over 2 hours later. The walk took six and a half hours, including stops for refreshment and to take photos. We estimate that it must have been a little over 20km.

SPRING WALKS 2

Today we did another of the circular mountain walks from Guajar Alto. This one took us up to the Sierra de Entresierras, was about 20km and took 6 hours.

For this walk, which passes through some of the most magnificent mountain scenery in the area, you start from Guajar Alto, take the turning on the left at the entrance of the village and follow this lane upwards for about 1.5 km until you reach a crossroads. Here, you take take the left lane. This path meanders up through pine forests and there are some lovely views looking back down to Guajar Alto. As you climb higher, the snow-clad peaks of the Sierra Nevada come into view and the landscape becomes more barren. When you get closer to the coast, in the direction of the town of Molvizar, you experience a sudden change in temperature. The warm, moisture-laden air provides the ideal climate for the growing of vines without the need for irrigation. You pass through vineyards before taking the right hand fork which follows the contours of the Sierra de Entresierras just below its ridge.

You follow this path for some time until it breaks through to the other side of the range and from there you can see a panorama which takes in the Mediterranean, the resort of Almuñecar and the village of Otivar below. It’s a good place to stop for refreshment during this particular walk. At this crossing of roads, if you take the left hand fork, you would descend to the village of Lentegi. The right hand lane takes you back down to Guajar Alto. It took us two and a half hours to descend the winding, gravelly track past the ruins of Cortijo Viña del Monte, and back to the village.

We began our walk to the accompaniment of nightingales, and as we climbed higher, we heard woodpeckers, the mewing of eagles and the chattering and trilling of numerous small birds. The wild flowers were profuse and varied, depending on the habitat. There were butterfly orchids with glowing, deep magenta petals; striking digitalis with rusty orange bells; great banks of lavender. The deep blue sky, the dazzling white of the snowy peaks of the Sierra Nevada and the brilliant yellow of the gorse and broom made a stunning picture.

SPRING WALKS 1

Some of the best walks in the province of Granada can be enjoyed around Guájar Alto, and this time of year is perfect for rambling: the weather is not too hot and the countryside, with the glorious flowering of spring, is looking at its best.

This week we tried one of the circular routes, a leisurely 15km which took us about 4 hours. It was a lovely day and we set off in brilliant, April sunshine, from the centre of the village and up the track that runs alonside the Rio Toba. Shortly after passing the spot where the river is dammed in the summer to create a swimming lake, we turned right and followed the lane that climbs up through the fincas of Juncales. This is a lush, sheltered location planted with oranges, lemons, avocados, olives, vines and nisperos. As you climb, the views are dominated by the peak of El Fuerte across the other side of the river. The track eventually reaches the pine forests and a T junction where we turned right. This is the mountain route to Pinos del Valle.

Through gaps in the pines you have glimpses of spectacular views looking across to the mountains and down to the village. As you leave the forest, the ruins of Guájar La Vieja come into sight and it was here that we took a right turn along a track that winds behind the Loma del Espejo, the escarpment which towers above Guajar Alto. ‘Espejo’ is Spanish for ‘mirror’, and the mountain is so named because, at night, it reflects the lights from the village houses.

Here, the country is arid, stony and uncultivated, and the vegetation sparse. We were surprised when we came upon big clumps of candytuft, an annual flower more often associated with sunny, English borders, growing out of bare gravel, in shady and inhospitable hollows.

Before very long, the scenery changes dramatically and we wound our way, descending, through sheltered and fertile fincas and ruined cortijos. The largest of these, in its setting of palms, is the splendid Cortijo de Chiron (see photo), now uninhabited. The primary reds, blues and yellows of the wild flowers dazzled our eyes. It has been a good season for butterflies, and we were fascinated by the dozens of painted ladies clustered around the tall, spreading clumps of alkanet growing alongside the track.

After a steep and winding descent, this track brought us out on the main road between Guájar Faragüit and Guájar Alto. Just a few metres down the road there is a popular picnic spot where we stopped for a drink and bocadillo before walking up the road back to Guájar Alto.

Next week we are going to be more ambitous and attempt the 20km walk through the mountains on the other side of the village.

MULES

I painted this illustration for the book I am currently working on, Princess The Pony. It is of a villager from Guajar Faragüit whom I encountered riding back from his finca on his mule laden with olives. Many of the old farmers in Guajar Faragüit still use mules to work in the fields and if you drive through the village early in the morning you will see them riding off to their fincas. A mule is normally stabled in the same village house in which the owner and his family live.

Here is a delightful poem about a mule, but bear in mind my translation is a very literal one. I don’t know how best to translate kiosco so that it sounds poetic.The theme of the poem is the mechanisation of farming methods versus the traditional.

My Mule by Dionisio Cañas

My mule is more
than just a mule
she is the shadow of God.
My mule and I go
everywhere together,
in the morning we stop
in the stands at daybreak
where the country workers
park their cars and tractors,
these machines that don’t have
the heart of my mule.
It doesn’t bother
my mule
that no one takes any notice
because she and I are
the song of a single shadow.
When at night
my mule and I travel
along the dusty roads of La Mancha,
and we look at the firmament above us.
The universe smiles at us
and the stars accompany us
as a crown of light.
The moon guides us
when we are lost.
Without my mule I am nobody,
without me she is a shadow without a name.
One day her skeleton and mine
will return to the earth,
and her bones and my bones
will shine between the vineyards
like the flower of the almond.
From the highest galaxies
my mule and I will look down,
abandoned along the dusty roads
of La Mancha,
the rusting tractors,
the old white vans,
the machines which never
had a heart.

Here’s the poem in Spanish:

Mi Mula

Mi mula es algo más
que una mula
es la sombra de Dios.
Mi mula y yo vamos
a todas partes juntos,
por la mañana paramos
en los kioscos del amanecer
donde los campesinos
aparcan sus coches y sus tractores,
esas máquinas que no tienen
el corazón de mi mula.
A mi mula no le importa
que nadie le haga caso
porque ella y yo somos
la canción de una sombra.
Cuando anoche
mi mula y yo nos paseamos
por los polvorientos
caminos de La Mancha,
y juntos miramos el firmamento.
El universo nos sonríe,
y las estrellas nos acompañan
como una corona de luz.
La luna nos guía
cuando estamos perdidos.
Sin mi mula yo no soy nadie,
sin mí ella es una sombra sin nombre.
Un día su esqueleto y el mío
volverán a la tierra,
y sus huesos y mis huesos
brillarán entre los viñedos
como la flor del almendro.
Desde más allá de las galaxias
mi mula y yo miraremos,
abandonados por los caminos
polvorientos de La Mancha,
los oxidados tractores,
las viejas furgonetas blancas,
las máquinas que nunca
tuvieron corazón.

The description of shining almond flowers refers to the curious luminosity of almond blossom, which radiates light, even on dull days.