Granada, Antequera, Camino del Ray
5-6 Mar 2026
In the last entry we left you in Cordoba, but we need to add one more piece of information, which although it may seem trivial, it perhaps shines a light on the nature of religious reverence within Spain. It’s this… a large proportion (more than 5% of the male population of Cordoba Province) have been given the name Rafael. In doing so they are honouring the Archangel Rafael. The reason? In the 17th Century the city was suffering from the Plague but it was saved because the Archangel Rafael intervened. According to tradition, St. Raphael appeared in a dream to Father Andrés de las Roelas to give him the message that he would save Córdoba from the epidemic. When the plague began to subside, the archangel's apparitions ran through the city, and from then on he was appointed eternal Guardian of Cordoba. Today, there are at least 11 statues in Cordoba that have been erected to memorialise this legend – the first in 1651, and the most recent in 2014)… Accordingly, in Cordoba – there are Rafael’s in every family (the guide’s close family had 40 Rafael’s, and there are 20,000 so named in Cordoba province)… and if you meet someone anywhere in Spain with the name Rafael – then there is a high probability that he has roots that stretch back to Cordoba.
Next stop on this “grand tour” – Granada… not to be mistaken for pomegranate, which in Spanish is “Granada”… Our camp site (Camping Reina Isabel), the only one open in Granada was in La Zubia – was on the opposite side of Granada (in the sense of our approach)… and as we had “avoid motorways” turned on in Google Maps (so that we can see the countryside as we go…) – we were routed through first the back streets of the city, then the city centre.. and finally to La Zubia. The driver was quite weary from passing through what seemed like many 10’s of roundabouts, and along narrow roads. But what an Oasis Camping Reina Isabel was! Worth all the suffering to get there (but I note here that on our departure we turned off “avoid motorways”… and so we escaped the city with barely a roundabout in sight… and mostly at 90kph!
On booking in – the man at reception upsold us a Flamenco Show in the Sacromonte district of the city, located on the Valparaiso hill bordering the northeast side of the El Albaicin district. It was occupied by Gypsies and Roma in the 15th Century who made homes out of caves. Today there are no gypsies anymore – but there are a lot of Flamenco shows here. For €70, we were picked up from the campsite, transported to Venta El Gallo, offered a free drink, watched the one-hour show, and transported back to camp. It was an adventure… and I’m not quite sure which was the most entertaining… watching the driver negotiate what seemed like impossible narrow streets (just a few centimetres clearance on both sides (on a two street)) and very undulating terrain!
We did very much enjoy the Show part of this cultural experience – but as we were in the front row seats, less than 2m from the dancers when they came close to the front of the stage, and given the loudness (deafening!) of the shoe tapping, hand clapping, and singer… I left with a headache! It seemed to be a very emotional and passionate experience for the guitarist, singer and dancers – but the audience was totally oblivious as to its meaning (a pity)…
Another bonus of this visit – a view of the Alambra at night…
The next day it rained… so we decided to stay at the campsite and catch up on the blog… hence the last entry. The forecast for the following day was for “sun”… with snow forecast for early the next week. We awoke to a thick fog… But our tour was not till 12 noon, so there was hope for a clearance. We left the campsite and drove into a motorhome parking area adjacent to the Alhambra – with Motorway Travel agreed in Google Maps… so we got there in something like 11 minutes!
So, what can we say about the Alambra? Unlike the Mezquita, it is essentially a number of palaces, gardens and an alcazaba (i.e., fortress). Because of its strategic location on a hill overlooking the surrounding area. The location has been occupied since Roman times.
For the record… Ben-Al-Hamar built the first core of the palace, which was later fortified by his son Muhammad II. It seems that the outer walls and aqueduct were completed by the end of the 13th century. The gardens and pavilions of the Generalife apparently date from the reign of Isma'il (1314-1325). But the most important sites of the Alhambra (the complex of the courtyard of the Myrtles and the Courtyard of the Lions) belong to the time of Yusuf I (1333-1354) and Muhammed V. This Granada style is the culmination of Andalusian art. After three centuries of activity, the three sectors in the Alhambra are well differentiated: the citadel, the urban fabric and the palaces.
In 1492 the conquest of Granada by the Catholic Monarchs was complete, Ferdinand received the keys to Granada, entered the Alhambra and raised the cross and flag on top of the Tower of Cómaris". The Alhambra thus became the citadel and royal palace of the Christian Kings, who added the convent of San Francisco in 1494, the palace of Charles V in 1527 and the church of Santa María de la Encarnación de la Alhambra in 1581.
Two other points of historical interest about Granada and the Alambra. Grenada was the last city/province to be conquered by the Christians during the Reconquista period (which started in 711 and was compete in 1492 – a war!). Christopher Columbus had previously approached Isabella about funding his expedition to the East Indies…but was told to wait as she had more important business to hand – finishing off Granada! But once done, in a meeting at the Alambra the Queen agreed to sponsor his expedition to reach the East Indies by sailing west (for a distance of 2,000 miles, according to Columbus).
A visit leaves one with an impression of the beauty of the Nasrid Palaces, and the Moorish (Islamic art), the beauty of the gardens and fountains, the ingenuity of architects who created this complex and the substance of the Citadel. And as in Cordoba, the Christian conquerors did not destroy what hey had acquired… but adapted and modified it – and so we can experience some of the art of the 13th Century today.
One point of interest about all these “decorations”, of which these are but a few… they have been constructed from fragile materials – mostly plaster, following the Islamic precept of not building anything that is eternal – but they did source some materials from afar – e.g. the blue is Lapus Lazuli – which is only sourced in Afghanistan.
And then it was time to move on to our next campsite near the Camino del Ray but as it was late, following our tour of the Alambra, we decided an intermediate overnight stop in Antequera – at Parking Camper Antequera – a free place to overnight with a good rating in CamperContact with a “beautiful view of the city and Alcazaba” so said one review. So far good. But at the last moment, Google Maps offered an alternate “shorter” route to the camp site. And it came to pass that the scariest part of any motorhome travel tends to be the first and last “kilometre”. That “alternate route” took us through the old quarter of the city (read very narrow, steep streets with sharp corners…) but we got there … in the end… and parked next to a large (33litres/100km diesel consumption) camper truck – with “The All Blacks” and Silver Fern on the Cab door… and a Taniwha on the front! The owner was French, but had spent 5 years in Porirua working for Remarket (the company that recycles electronics).
The view was as advertised too:
But a little further investigation by Karilyn led to a greater understanding of the importance of Antequera – it has three megalithic monuments (the tholos del Romeral and the two dolmens of Menga and Viera). Built in the Neolithic Period and the Bronze Age, the oldest of them is, The Dolmen of Menga, with approximately 6000 years old. It has huge slabs of rock for its walls and blankets (roof slabs). The weight of the last one is estimated at 180 tons (but that would not have been a problem for Obelix!). The Dolmen of Menga is oriented to the Peña de los Enamorados (the nearby odd shaped hill in the photograph).
There is one other feature of interest in this photo – and that is the very long, curving viaduct that can be seen on the centre left – this is part of the fast train network. The third Dolman (tholos del Romeral) is on the mountain on the right.
The Dolmen of Viera (megalithic tomb) is oriented towards the equinoxes, making it only one of the 3 dolmens that are oriented to an astronomical event. Its construction dates between 3510 – 3020 BC. The Menga and Viera Dolmens are located on the same site 50m apart.
The next camp site was Camping Parque Ardales, and we got there around 1 PM, in time for our last “booked” tour – that for the Camino Del Ray - walkway pinned along the steep walls of a narrow gorge in El Chorro, near Ardales. Stewart Moore had recommended this too me when he heard about our planned trip… It has been described as the "world's most dangerous walkway" following five deaths in 1999 and 2000.
The walkway was built to provide workers at the hydroelectric power plants at Chorro Falls and Gaitanejo Falls with a means to cross between them, to provide for transport of materials, and to help facilitate inspection and maintenance of the water channel (essentially a manmade river from an upstream dam to the head of the penstock). The construction began in 1901 and was finished in 1905. The original path was constructed of concrete and rested on steel rails supported by stanchions built at approximately 45 degrees into the rock face. The rails were held together by wire wrapped around the joints – just like No 8 wire!
Over time it all started to fail, people died trying to walk along it – which in places is 60 to 120m above the gorge below… so it was “closed”. But… in March 2014, the cornerstone of the rehabilitation project was laid by specialized alpinists and the walkway reopened on 29 March 2015. Lonely Planet listed it in the best new attractions for 2015.
Looking down (60m) to the river...
This track is in a National Park – and it has a resident population of 400 vultures – who only eat meat. But all the predators in the Park have been eliminated, leaving no meat for the vultures… so now they are fed on Tuesdays and Fridays… from road kill, and that fail health tests at abattoirs… and as it was Friday – we saw a bunch of vultures – a kettle (as they were flying – otherwise you would have to call them a committee – I kid you not… how appropriate!).
This walk – was “great”… refreshing and another 7.5km of training! We slept quite well that night.
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