One street, one church, one castle.
As a true pueblo blanco, Olvera is a taste of the real Spain in the hills beyond the costas of Andalucía.
One street, one church and one castle – but what a street, what a church and what a castle! That is the opinion of those who live here in Olvera, and just a day spent exploring this comparatively unknown, enchanting old town, reachable within about ninety minutes drive from Seville, Granada, Malaga or Jerez airports, convinced me they know what they are talking about.
The old inland route from Cadiz and Jerez to Granada passes through a lone tunnel just east of Algodonales, from whence the traveller bursts into bright sunlight, confronted by a magnificent view of the true Andalucían white town, the pueblo blanco, of Olvera, with its dramatic hilltop church and neighbouring Arab castle. In the past I have always been hurriedly travelling somewhere else, in too much of a rush to visit this historic town, but on my last visit to the region I added a night and day on to the end specifically to allow me a chance to explore this truly authentic Spanish town on the north-eastern edge of Cadiz Province.
This time I approached Olvera from the east, after a beautiful sunset drive across the sierras. Over six hundred metres, or close to two thousand feet, above sea level, the castle and church command the region, underscoring why this town has a history dating back to the time of the Visigoths and before.
Top of my agenda after dropping off my luggage at the British-owned and Moroccan-themed Casa Marroc guesthouse was definitely a traditional tapas bar for some authentic regional fare, and owners Mark and Maria Caffrey pointed me in just the right direction to find it. Tapas bars don’t come more authentic than Taberna Juanita Gomez on the appropriately named Calle de Bellavista, which skirts the northern edge of the old town parallel to the main street leading to the castle.
Hams hanging from the rafters and sherry casks behind the bar, with heartily conversing locals propping up the counter mid-week, plus the smell of freshly cooked food wafting from the small kitchen as the barmen routinely top up glasses on a nod or a wink, are the sign of a hearty tapas bar. Naturally in Juanita Gomez, a typically Spanish local in a small inland town fifty kilometres from the costas, you will seldom hear a sentence in English spoken, but as Olvera has an estimated fifty British families integrating with its community, and is also becoming popular with independent travellers looking to discover the real Spain, a laminated card in English appears as if by magic on the counter before you can take out your phrase book to check the unfamiliar items on the bar menu.
No visit to Olvera is complete without a visit to the beautifully-restored 12th Century Arab castle, plus the neighbouring museum in the restored cilla, or town grain store, so early next morning I wandered up from Casa Marroc, through the tiny municipal square inside the old walls, and up the flight of gentle steps to the church square. This part of Spain was the frontier between the Muslim and Christian worlds for centuries, and its fortifications were very much a necessity.
In the Tourist Information office next to the castle and museum, where for a couple of euros you can buy a ticket granting access to both, a wide selection of leaflets covering this intriguing area’s natural attractions is available. These range from guides to the Via Verde de la Sierra, a 36 kilometre long ‘green way’ recreational trail on the track of the old railway line from Jerez to Almagen, to information for bird-watchers interested in spotting griffin vultures, lesser kestrels and other comparatively rare species to be found in this temperate climate region of Spain’s southern sierras.
Olvera really does only have one street of note, which runs long and straight up to the steps leading to the impressive parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación, towering above its surroundings with cathedral-like size and grace. Regrettably a major fire in 2004 badly damaged the interior and put this place of worship out of commission, but by late 2009 extensive repairs had virtually been completed and by Easter 2010 it should be restored to its former glory.
After a morning exploring castle, museum and church it was back down to Juanita Gomez to sample the lunchtime tapas menu, which is just as varied as the evening one. I settled on prawns in hot garlic oil plus a local deep fried spicy sausage combination, washed down with a glass of Rioja DOC Tempranillo – when in Spain, do as the Spanish do.
Back out in the sunshine, with nary another ‘Brit abroad’ about, a climb to the top of the Peñón del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, a rocky outcrop with tropical gardens and aviaries on its cool north slope and a massive statue of Christ at the top, seemed the ideal way to burn off those excess lunchtime calories. As a bonus, the views from the gallery on the summit are almost as spectacular as those from the castle ramparts to the west.
All too soon my short trip to Olvera was over and it was time to head for Jerez airport and a flight back to a wintry England. Will I go back? Definitely. This unspoilt area of Andalucía, just an hour inland from the busy costas and twenty minutes drive from Ronda, offers too many attractions that I simply did not have time to explore.