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The
Los Alcornocales (170,000 hectares) and Sierra de Grazalema (50,000 hectares)
Nature Parks converge in the municipality of Cortes de la Frontera, which
contains a large part of their extraordinary environmental treasure and affords
the visitor a view of scenic surroundings that are absolutely awe-inspiring.The
large forests of cork oaks that cover much of this territory continue into
the province of Cadiz, but before crossing the border
of Malaga they form a number of sites that can,
without gratuitous hyperbole, be characterised as paradisiacal. For more information
about property for sale in Spain
in or near Cortes de la Frontera please contact us.
La Sauceda and the Las Buitreras gorge, adjoining the El Colmenar neighbourhood, are only two examples of the bounty that nature has bestowed upon this municipality. The first site is fully equipped for camping and taking however much time one wishes to enjoy the surroundings, while the latter-Las Buitreras-is more difficult of access but compensates for this with an astonishing spectacle: the channel of the River Guadiaro confined between walls more than 100 metres high.
It seems that the origins of Cortes de la Frontera date back to the twelfth and eleventh centuries B. C., when the Phoenicians arrived in this area where the Tartessians were already established. Centuries later the Greeks made their appearance, which can be described as fleeting, as it generally was on the coasts of Andalusia. After the Greeks came the Romans, from whose era sufficient evidence remains: the traces of the town of Saepona 28 kilometres from the present village and the ruins of Cortes el Viejo (Old Cortes), only two kilometres from the village in a setting that overlooks a long stretch of the River Guadiaro.
The Muslims confronted the Visigoths on Cortesano soil in the year 711 in a place that is still recognizable today, according to a number of researchers. At the death of Almanzor in 1002, Cortes belonged alternately to the kingdoms of Seville and Granada and even to the kingdoms of Ronda and Algeciras. Fernando III the Saint conquered the village in 1248 but it later again passed into the hands of the Muslims until the Marquise of Cadiz, Rodrigo Ponce de León, took it in the name of the Catholic Monarchs in 1485. This kind of alternation between one kingdom and another was not unusual with villages that had “de la Frontera” (“of the Frontier”) as part of their names.
The modern location of the village is more
recent, having its origin in the seventeenth century. It was in that period
that cork exploitation, one of the locality’s main sources of wealth,
began to develop. It continues to be one of the pillars of the economy of
Cortes de la Frontera. Due to the era in which the village was founded its
urban structure is noticeably different from that of many mountain localities
that have a Moorish heritage. The municipality is also unusual in having three
centres of population, which it is not unique in the province of Malaga
but is nevertheless not common. They are: the main population centre, which
is Cortes de la Frontera itself, El Colmenar and La Cañada or Estación
de Cortes.
Fiestas
The carnival, which is attended by street musicians and acting groups from
the province of Cadiz, is this municipality’s
first entertainment event, followed by the Semana Santa (Holy Week) and Corpus
Christi religious celebrations. The patron saint fiestas in honour of San
Roque and San Sebastián are from 23 to 27 August, with a programme
that includes competitions, dances, a livestock fair and most importantly
the release of the “toro del aguardiente” (bull of brandy), one
of this locality’s most popular traditions. The pilgrimage
of the Virgen del Rosario, patron saint of Cortes, is celebrated in early
July and the Horse Pilgrimage a few days later. The El Colmenar neighbourhood
holds its patron saint fiestas in the last week of July and La Cañada
observes its own, in the first week in August, so it can be seen that the
summer is prodigious in festivities in this municipality.
There is documentary evidence from the seventeenth century of the existence
of the brotherhood of Vera Cruz (“The Purples), from which the brotherhood
of Padre Jesús (“The Reds”) also sprang and which, curiously,
bore the same Virgin in processions, but the Semana Santa in Cortes originated
in very recent times. The most meaningful event of Passion Week in Cortes
occurs on Holy Thursday when the “encounter” takes place in the
Plaza del Ayuntamiento between the images of Jesús Nazareno (Jesus
of Nazareth) and the Virgin, when the “three falls” are enacted.
Food
This municipality’s culinary tradition is as varied as it is
delectable. As in most mountain villages, there are summer and winter dishes,
although nowadays these limits are observed more on the calendar than in the
kitchen. Caldereta de venado (venison stew), cordero de la sierra (a lamb
stew), revuelto de espárragos (an egg and asparagus dish), ternera
cortesana (Cortes-style veal), tortilla de bacalao (codfish omelette), cocido
refrito (a sauce made of fried bread, tomato, garlic, pepper and onion), potaje
de acelgas (stewed chard), migas (a dish made from fried bread crumbs) and
conejo al Guadiar (a rabbit dish) are only a sample of the appetising traditional
recipes from this area. There is a no less extensive variety of confectioneries:
milhojas (a stuffed pastry), merengue (meringue), roscones (a spiral pastry),
suspiros (a flour and egg pastry), compota de membrillo (quince compote),
homemade magdalenas (small pastries cooked in a mold), torrijas (made from
wine-saturated bread) and uvas en aguardiente (grapes in raw brandy) may give
some idea of Cortes de la Frontera’s lengthy dessert menu.
How to get there:
Starting from the AP-7 (N-340) expressway on the Costa del Sol, take
the A-377 from Manilva to Gaucin,
and there continue by way of the A-369. About seven kilometres farther along
turn onto the A-373, which leads to Cortes. If you leave from the city of
Ronda, you must go south on the A-369, and after
passing Algatocin take the A-373.
Tourist information:
Town Hall, Plaza Carlos III, 1 (29380). Telephone: 952 154 000; Fax: 952 154
342.
Cortes de la Frontera
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