Following our first two nights in Seville, the next two were going to be in Gibraltar. What’s in-between Seville and Gibraltar? Enough to make you want to change your hotel booking and push your arrival into Gib by a week (at least). But that was not going to happen. Not unless we had unlimited vacation time and spring break did not have a definitive end date. Also conducive to that plan would be that I won the jackpot, in which case the first two requirements would be irrelevant. Since all of that was fantasy, we settled for stretching the 2 hour drive to a day-long Andalusian adventure, one that would be filled with scenic detours and fascinating pitstops. As I’ve said before, the freedom of having your own wheels makes things like this possible. But such freedom seldom comes without responsibility. The kind that requires you to carefully choose how and where you spend that day. Although it is difficult to go wrong with your choices in the south of Spain, there were a couple of specific places in the region that I was particularly curious about. One such dot on the map was Setenil de las Bodegas. But first, here’s some of that beautiful scenery you’ll enjoy on the way.
En route to Setenil de las Bodegas
En route to Setenil de las Bodegas
En route to Setenil de las Bodegas
En route to Setenil de las Bodegas
En route to Setenil de las Bodegas
As the 117 km journey to Setenil on open roads through the scenic countryside, farms, and mountains was nearing its end, we soon found ourselves in town.
Setenil de las Bodegas
A couple of more curves and bends, and we were driving in the streets of Setenil. This was when my fascination with this town grew exponentially. The streets are so narrow that the line separating driving roads from pedestrian alleys gets really blurred. This is what I mean.
Driving through the streets of Setenil de las Bodegas
Driving through the streets of Setenil de las Bodegas
Driving through the streets of Setenil de las Bodegas
After squeezing through a few tight spots, we arrived at the town center, where there were a few restaurants and bars.
Downtown Setenil de las Bodegas
Downtown Setenil de las Bodegas
Resist the temptation to stop here and park (that is, assuming one of the two, maybe three spots is available). Instead, keep driving, as you thread your vehicle through the needles of Setenil’s streets. If the car might fit, you must persist. But before you do, know that your reversing skills will need be as precise as a video being rewound during play, in the event you erred in your judgement of size and space.
Streets of Setenil
Streets of Setenil
Streets of Setenil
I’m no stranger to getting behind the wheel in a foreign country. In fact, I thrive on it, given the freedom it affords me. Consequently, I’ve experienced a wide range of driving cultures - from highways and cities in the U.S., where the rules of the road area clearly laid out, to the streets of Bangalore, where traffic laws are really just polite suggestions and sidewalks often double up as extra lanes in the absence of barriers. Herein lies my conundrum. Is what I’m doing actually allowed? Or am I being an ignorant foreigner who is clumsily driving his car in places he shouldn’t be? It turned out that this was the perfect blend of the structured driving culture of the west with the ‘waste no space’ extreme of the east - what I was doing was perfectly legal. Here’s some more evidence.
Driving in Setenil
But Setenil de las Bodegas is not just about driving. In fact, I did not even know about the unique driving experience there when I chose to put this town on our route. What caught my attention and intrigued me most about this place was the way urban development is seamlessly woven into natural landforms. The result? A rare tapestry of the wild and the tamed. A harmonious matrimony of everyday life and mountainous terrain, each unconditionally accepting the other, without compromise. An unnaturally natural creation. Like the shops and houses built under this rock.
Shops in Setenil under a rock
And that same rock, which lends itself to the ceiling of this little souvenir shop.
Recuerdas de Setenil with its rock ceiling
And my favorite - Calle Cuevas del Sol, a street lined with restaurants and bars where you can get a table outside while you sip your cold beverage of choice and let all of this magnificence slowing sink in. All while sitting under a rock.
Restaurants on Calle Quevas del Sol
Lunch at Bar Frasquito Setenil
After an amazing Iberian steak lunch at Bar Frasquito Setenil, it was time to once again hit the road. Next stop - Ronda.
For more articles like this visit World on Points or follow us on Facebook.
