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The
River Guaro valley, which has been turned into a reservoir, is the axis of
this municipality, whose territory borders the Colmenar
corridor on the north and the La Axarquía Mountains on the south. These
two geographic features form different landscapes. Thus, while the former
area exhibits low relief that is ideal for grain fields and olive groves the
latter terrain, south of the reservoir, becomes more uneven due to the presence
of hills whose plant cover is composed mainly of brush and a few stands of
evergreen oaks, but olive groves and vineyards are also found there. For more
information about property for sale
in Spain in or near La Vinuela please contact us.
In the central part of the municipality is the La Vinuela reservoir, the largest in capacity in the province of Malaga and one of the main tourist resources in the region. From its shores can be seen a broad landscape dominated by the formidable mass of the Sierra de Tejeda range and the whimsical shape of the Boquete de Zafarraya mountain pass. Despite this, there are no great elevations in the municipality of La Viñuela, as its highest point does not reach 600 metres. The most notable peaks are the hills of Ballesteros (361 metres), on the border of Alcaucin, Castaño (316 metres) and Agudo, which at 558 metres, ranks as the highest elevation in the municipality and serves as the dividing line with Velez Malaga. La Vinuela was founded, as a village, in the eighteenth century, making it the most modern locality in La Axarquía but, paradoxically, this was one of the first areas of human settlement, which occurred at least as far back as the Paleolithic period. This is not surprising because this area is a natural pass to the northern territories and has also always been rich in water.
More than ten archaeological sites were excavated
before being covered by the reservoir waters, but the most notable prehistoric
signs are along the River Guaro, where remains dating from the Neolithic period
to the Roman era have been found: cane and adobe huts, a bronze smelting oven
and stone tools, as well as bell-shaped vessels and decorative motifs. Judging
from the finds corresponding to the Roman era, there is every indication that
the economy of the time was based on olives, grapes and grain crops, much
as in the present day. Apparently, this locality sprang up around an ancient
inn on the Royal Road from Velez-Malaga to
Granada at a place that in the early seventeenth
century was called La Vinuela (the Little Vineyard) in reference to some small
vineyards in the vicinity, and which has been converted into today’s
La Plaza bar. As time went on other buildings began to be built near the inn,
and thus the village was formed. Its first mayor, Lucas García del
Rey, took office in 1764.
In the nineteenth century La Vinuela had some 700 residents, most of whom
were engaged in agriculture and particularly the raising of cattle. With the
phylloxera pest of the late nineteenth century, the vineyards were levelled
and replaced, where the land was suitable, with citrus groves.
Fiestas
The pilgrimage honouring San José, the Virgen Milagrosa (Miraculous
Virgin) and the Virgen del Carmen (Virgin of Carmen) is held on the first
weekend in May in the vicinity of the reservoir. Although this is a relatively
recent pilgrimage custom, its origin is documented from many years ago, when
the image of San Jose was taken out for public prayers for rain, a custom
that still has not completely died out in certain villages in the province
of Málaga, where in cases of excessively prolonged droughts it is not
rare that this tradition is resorted to.
The fair in honour of the Virgen de las Angustias, whose statue is transferred beforehand from its hermitage to the village church, takes place on the last weekend in July or early August. The fair of the Virgen del Carmen will already have been celebrated before this, on the second weekend in July in the community of Los Gómez. In mid-August the fair honouring the Virgen Milagrosa is held at Los Romanes, a sub-district of La Vinuela.
In late September, at the end of the grape harvesting
and drying season, the Fiesta de la Pasa (Raisin Fiesta) is held. Its purpose
is to promote this product and the local Muscatel wine, and it coincides with
the transfer of the statue of the patron saint, the Virgen de las Angustias,
from the village church to its hermitage.
Food
The base of La Vinuela cuisine is the oil of the verdial olive, and
its most characteristic dishes are sopa de tomate (tomato soup), gazpachuelo
con patatas (a fish soup, with potatoes in this case), potajes de verduras
y legumbres (vegetable stews), migas con naranja y granada (a dish made from
fried bread crumbs, and oranges and pomegranates, in this case), ajoblanco
and gazpacho (cold soups) and ensaladilla con naranja y bacalao (a salad with
codfish and oranges). This makes up a menu typical of La Axarquía,
as one can see. In the confectionery section, mention should be made of roscos
de vino (spiral pastries made with wine), tortas de aceite (olive oil cakes)
and mantecados (shortbread).
How to get there:
Take the Mediterranean Expressway (A-7; N-340) towards Motril-Almería,
if you are coming from the Western Costa del Sol, or towards Malaga
if you are coming from Nerja or Torrox.
Turn towards Velez-Malaga on the A-335 but
without entering that town, continue on the same route towards Alhama de Granada.
Some 14 kilometres past Velez-Malaga the turn
towards La Vinuela will be marked.
Tourist information:
Town Hall, Calle Vélez-Málaga, 23 (29712). Telephone:
952 519 002; Fax: 952 519 088.
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