"Alhama de Granada" Alhama de Granada by ranger49

We made our first visit to Alhama de Grande on the recommendation of a friend who had got to know the area well in the 1980s.
From the coast road at Torrox we took the road leading to Velez-Malaga which will take you from the province of Malaga into that of Granada. Once through Velez-Malaga, the wholesale market centre for the surrounding area, we found a climbing road full of bends with agricultural fiedls opening out on either side.
The scenery was spectacular and eventually we saw, in the distance ahead of us, the pass - El Boquette de Zafarraya - that would take us into Granada Province and on to Alhama de Granada. The journey and the Pass, we had been told was what the trip was all about and we knew little about Alhama other than it was perched on a ridge and very pretty before we arrived.

Sister & Bro-in-law in the shade

We drove into a broad street, more like an irregular shaped square. Not very old and not on a ridge. First impressions were that many places looked a little scruffy, in need of a lick of paint. Even the pavements and road surface were crumbling in parts . But this was Real, what we like to find.
So, car parked ( any available space on the road or pavement seemed to be the system) we had a quick walk round to look at the few shops - soon to close for lunch - and noticed that the pavement tables at the restaurant we had spotted with a large green awning and green gingham tableclothes were filling up rapidly.
We got the last available table which was actually on a very rough bit of ground and had no tablecloth.
We (6 of us) ordered the menu del dia . Ours were probably the last orders to be taken and were not served immediately.. Whilst waiting we scoured our guide books thinking this small town would probably not take up a whole afternoon. There was surprisingly little information but references to this being one of the last Muslim fortresses to fall in the Reconquest by Christians in 1492 made us decide not to rush off too quickly.
Our lunch of soup, grilled pork chops/fish/omelettes, all with chips followed by creme caramel or ice cream was very good and very cheap - somewhat marred by my sister's insistence on feeding the feral cats who were shoo-ed away by the waiter but not before they had left fleas to bite our ankles!

An American brother-in-law on first vist to Spain

We parked the car in a more legitmate parking space and set off to find the old town. It was not far - up the road a bit, a few steps, turn a corner and we entered a different world.
Whitewashed walls amongst golden sandstone buildings. As we climbed through narrow lanes and through arches we spotted a glimpse of two old ladies dressed entirely in, black sitting on kitchen chairs outside their front doors.We wondered how far they had ever travelled from the village.
There were plenty of photo opportunities as we went around the square, looked in the church. We saw no other tourists or inhabitants.