After Nerja we visited the acclaimed village of Frigiliana. This is an incredibly pretty place with stunning views out over the sea. The village is a labyrinth of steep and narrow cobbled streets, lined with whitewashed houses, their wrought-iron balconies filled with planters of brilliant red geraniums. You could certainly get a lovely apartment or townhouse to live in here if you didn’t have 2 dogs! There is a set of steps up a narrow street that are so gorgeous, I have seen a photograph of them used in the titles of A Place in the Sun.
Frigiliana is best explored on foot. Small plazas provide shady seating while the village bars are popular with visitors who come here to taste the locally produced wine. There are several excellent shops selling locally made pottery and ceramics, linen and basketware, everything you need and lots of things you don’t need!
The little tourist train reminds you that you are smack bang in the middle of a tourist attraction, not that I needed reminding of that. The whole place is just a little bit twee, it didn’t quite feel real. So much seemed to be manufactured for tourists and the coach loads of people arriving confirmed that this place is definitely on the beaten track.
Villas with a bit of land would be out in the countryside. Many of them clinging to rocks! I think you might feel a little remote in the sense that you couldn’t walk to a cafe or shop. All said, there are certainly enough villas peppering the landscape and you would be sure to get a great sea view.
We drove up over the mountain and around the valley down to Torrox.
I quite liked the town of Torrox, it was very attractive and did not feel too touristy. The centre has a lovely square with coffee bars etc. It would definitely be somewhere I would consider living if I could find the right property I thought …. until we ventured down the hill to the coast and Torrox costa. That is a high rise haven, too built up for us.
We went over to Velez-Malaga, which is a large working town with very attractive innards! Narrow streets and small plazas make room for the coffee culture. We drove down a narrow street and got to a point where we could not go any further, we had to reverse. Everyone behind us had different ideas, the good humour and friendliness of the Spanish was not apparent at this point! After lots of shunting we finally managed to get out – probably won’t go there again! At the end of the day, this is a very large town and not for those looking for a villa with a garden!
We drove back along the coast road to Nerja. I was very impressed with Torre del Mar, even though it had a few high rises they were done tastefully and it seemed to be very polished. The miles of sandy beach were stunning.
The coast road after Torre del Mar was incredibly built up, not a lot of breathing space. There was evidence of half finished buildings in a few places that had been there for a while, the graffiti gave it away. Having said that the area is up beat and definitely on the mend following the crash. I would think that if you are looking for a bargain down here, you would need to get on with it.
Nerja seems the most polished along here but we will see, we are going east tomorrow.
Frigiliana Revisited
We came back to Frigiliana today to find a nice walk for the dogs. This is perfect for them. We walked down a really steep hill to the bottom of the gorge and along the dry river bed, it is quite cool and shaded down here. Plus there is a stream flowing so the dogs are able to have a drink. They are enjoying a good runaround.
A Spanish Adventure 