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This municipality stretches on one side between the regions
of La Axarquía and the Malaga Mountains and
on the other it also adjoins the Antequera mountain
range, so the resultant landscape is something of a compendium of three zones
that meet in the municipal territory.
It has limestone areas similar to those of Antequera in which there is more rock than vegetation, and other less steep areas that allow the growth of olive trees, cereal grains and low brush. For more information about property for sale in Spain in or near Colmenar please contact us.
Archaeological sites that have been discovered in some parts of the municipality show beyond a doubt that there were already human settlements in this area in prehistoric times, which is only to be expected given the location of Colmenar, which must have been one of the routes that linked La Axarquía and the Malaga mountains with the Guadalhorce valley.This can be inferred from the remains found in the Cueva de las Pulseras (Las Pulseras Cave, from the Neolithic period) and at El Cortijo de Gonzalo along the Las Zorreras stream, which are from the Metals Age. Except for a few coins and ceramics from the Roman era, however, there are no remains showing the existence of a city or fortress from that age.
It would not be strange, however, if sooner
or later some such traces-a villa, at least-did show up, since they have been
found in places not very distant from Colmenar. There is also no remaining
construction of any kind from the Arabic domination, but there is a very interesting
relic: a slate mold for casting coins that was found at the Las Guájaras
farmstead. One really cannot properly speak of the history of Colmenar before
the taking of Velez Malaga by the Christian
troops in 1487. It is the opinion of the historian Vázquez de Otero
that, “when the Catholic Monarchs took over Malaga
and its territory, Colmenar did not exist as a village, but rather as an estate
like so many others…”
We do know that in 1488 the castle commandant of Comares
acquired the farmstead of Colmenar, and that in the mid-sixteenth century
(1558) it is already being referred to in documents as the Señorío
de Colmenar (feudal holdings of Colmenar), whose ownership would be grounds
for lawsuits for many years until the royal burgh managed to achieve its independence
in 1777. It would later be the judicial district seat for several neighbouring
villages.
Fiestas
Colmenar opens its festive schedule on 2 February to pay homage to its patron
saint the Virgen de la Candelaria, who on that date is conveyed in a procession
to her hermitage. On 3 May the locality celebrates two fiestas at once, that
of Las Cruces (The Crosses) and that of “La Pipa”, the traditional
name that is also applied to the kidney bean. It is traditional to go out
into the country to eat on that date. On the eve of San Juan it is time for
“Los Júas”, which are burned here amid a general hullabaloo
of children, mainly, and at Christmas it is still customary to organise “pastorales”
(a kind of chorus made up of friends, male and female, who dress up in special
costumes for the occasion) and sing Christmas carols and other songs of the
season.
The Fiesta del Mosto y la Chacina (Fiesta of New Wine and Cold Cuts) is especially
important. It is held in December as a kind of homage to the traditional products
of the Colmenar territory. Thousands of people flock to the village and are
welcomed with musical performances of all kinds, plus a flamenco recital and
dancing and singing of “verdiales”. A “tapa route”
is also set up, so that nobody leaves without trying what this village makes
so well.
Colmenar’s Semana Santa (Holy Week) shines again after several years
in decline. At the moment the only processional day is Good Friday, with the
march of the brotherhood of Jesús Nazareno (Jesus of Nazareth, a figure
by Palma Burgos, 1940) and the Virgen de los Dolores (Virgin of Sorrows, anonymous).
This brotherhood has its seat in the Asunción church.
Food
A number of dishes might be considered typical of this municipality,
notably chivo en salsa (kid in sauce), choto al ajillo (kid in garlic sauce)
and, naturally, the traditional “plato de los Montes” (“dish
of the mountains”) consisting of a combination of loin, chorizo sausage,
potatoes, peppers and fried egg. Cocido de garbanzos con tocino (chickpea
and bacon stew), tortilla de habas (kidney bean omelet), gazpachuelo and porra
(cold soups) and migas (a dish made from fried bread crumbs) make up part
of Colmenar’s most traditional cuisine. As for pastries, special mention
should be made of borrachuelos (wine sponge cakes), carne de membrillo (quince
preserves), and roscos de vino and roscos de huevo (kinds of spiral pastry),
as well as homemade magdalenas (small pastries made in a mold). In addition
there is an excellent local vintage of wine.
How to get there:
Unless you happen to be in the northern part of the province the
best route is to leave the city of Malaga by the
A-6103, popularly known as the Carretera de Colmenar (Colmenar Road). This
is the old and formerly the only way to get to the interior of Andalusia (Seville,
Cordoba, Granada) and
the rest of Spain. The road is an unbroken succession of curves but it is
worth it for the view it provides of the bay and mountains of Malaga.
Another possibility is to take the expressway towards Antequera
(N-331) and once you have passed Casabermeja
to turn onto the A-356. The scenery is very beautiful here also, especially
after leaving the expressway, but it is another type of landscape.
Tourist information:
Town Hall, Plaza de España, 9 (29170). Telephone: 952 730 000; Fax:
952 731 068.
Colmenar
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