In Hemingway’s Footsteps
Regarded by many as the most beautiful of all the pueblos blancos in Spain, Ronda is perched in the hills between Seville and Malaga. Its dramatic setting, hanging high in the cliffs above a river splitting the town in two, has inspired poets and artists for generations.
It’s where Ernest Hemingway frequently stayed and he used it as the setting for his bestseller For Whom the Bell Tolls, about the Spanish Revolution.
Another Hemingway classic was a study of the bullfight, Death In The Afternoon. The American writer felt that a bullfight was a tragedy, not a sport.
Other famous devotees of Ronda include Orson Wells (there’s a statue of him in the town and a road named after him), and Hollywood superstar Cary Grant.
It has the country’s oldest bullring where concerts are sometimes held. Whether you are for or against bullfighting, the bullring is worth a tour.
