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Serrania deRonda
The
November 2025
Ronda has struck the imagination of poets, artists, bullfighter musicians for thousands s and of years, writes Dilip Kuner
GORGE-OUS
We lead the charge to find the best ham and hotels, and the hottest new sites and restaurants in Ronda
Big reveal Our top tips for which local chefs are going to win a new Michelin star
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R
ONDA doesn’t just appear; it confronts you. As the road city leaps into view,bends, this captivating rising like a white surrounded by pearl the rugged Andalucian countryside. You know you are this is confirmed arriving somewhere special and when you begin to geography: a hilltown understand its da, meaning literally named by the Romans as ArunBut Ronda, which ‘surrounded by mountains’. in every direction, is indeed encircled by sierras city being hewn in is also a geologist’s dream, the two by a deep chasm the Guadalevin River. carved by This adds to its complex history. threads that make Where the up the multicoloured Andalucia - Moorish fabric of architecture, Roman deur, bullfighting, granpoets and outlaws intertwine. all happily Ronda is more than a destination; it’s chronicle where its a living stones feel the weight turies of stories. of cenThe visceral experience Tajo, the breathtaking of Ronda begins with the gorge that rips through centre and spreads its out into a deep valley Spanning this monumental below. divide is the Puente Nuevo (New Bridge). It’s the physical and heart of the city spiritual feeling the sheer,and you can’t go near it without dizzying height.
Secret
CAPTURED!
DRAMATIC: Extraordinary
view of the Tajo gorge
from above, while
(top right) the Foreign
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OLIVE PRESS
Legion carries a
virgin over the Puente
Nuevo at Easter
The bridge’s very existence is rooted tating secret. Before in a devasa precarious woodenthis stone marvel stood here, trestle-bridge was link across the 300-foot the only In 1740, that wooden drop. structure failed, and nocent Rondeños 50 inplunged to their deaths. The 40 years it took engineering; it was to reconstruct it wasn’t just sure the community an act of collective will to enwould never be Today, it stands as a testament to divided again. fering views so spectacular resilience, that locals claim, ofbirds fly at the feet ‘the Ronda’s layout is of those who look out’. a simple historical udad (the Old Town map: La Ciand former Moorish medina) sits on the south rinthine, while El side, looking ancient and labyMercadillo (the modern cial district) sits on commerThen down below, the north. Almocobar gate, outside the charming Arabic sits the San Francisco bourhood alongside neighdefended the entire the medieval walls that once fortress. Long before the Puente Nuevo, Ronda was holding the line: The already the early importance Celtic tribe, the Bastuli, knew perhaps even along of this rocky outcrop for trade, When the Romans ancient Atlantic routes. arrived, the city in stature. They developed quickly grew a unique ment colony: the defensible Arunda ‘twin’ settleand the even Continues overleaf
Come and try amazing wines Ronda’s with a tapa TEL: 672 284
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COPS BEAT ME UP!
O LIVE P RESS
Leading Costa del Sol lawyer demands action as Algarve police leave him hospitalised in ‘brutal’ midnight attack
A WELL known expat lawyer has been hospitalised after police and bouncers attacked him on a night out in Portugal. The solicitor, based between Marbella and Alicante, needed treatment after the beating in Lagos. The boss of the well-established legal firm was attacked after being violently ejected from a bar and went to file a complaint to local police. The British Law Society member,
EXCLUSIVE By Jon Clarke
who grew up on the Costa del Sol, told the Olive Press he was ‘completely shocked’ to be beaten up for ‘absolutely no reason’. The father-of-two had been having a ‘quiet g&t’ with an Irishman, who was also on holiday. “One minute I was at the bar chatting with this guy, Matt, and the next I was picked up and ejected from the place,” he revealed, insisting on anonymity for legal reasons. “It was very aggressive and without warning and I ended up on the floor.” But it was then that things took an ever darker turn. Getting up he could see a group of four policemen standing outside the bar, Bon Vivant, and said he wanted to make an ‘official statement’. “I said: ‘I’m a lawyer FUN NIGHT: But the banter ended and it was not acceptable abruptly soon after pic was taken
behaviour from the bar staff. “But they just said ‘go away, go home’ and then suddenly this one cop pushed me over violently, before taking me down a side street. “I was then knocked on the head and fell over. It was really brutal and shocking and I thought I was not going to get out of it.” Somehow though he managed to get away and he carefully circled back to the square a short while later to get photos of the police - who are part of the PFP security force - for evidence. He then headed back to his hotel he was staying at with his two adult daughters.
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Headlock
“I decided to take a longer route home, via the central square, Jardin de la Constitucion, and it was there when I was suddenly attacked again.” He continued: “These two people literally bounded up and jumped on me from behind. “They put me in a headlock and started strangling me. They wanted me to pass out.” When he came to, he was ‘very dazed and disorientated’ and assumed he’d been mugged. “But I still had my wallet, watch and phone with me so it was clearly for other reasons.”
He continued: “I’m sure it was the police or bouncers who did it and I have no doubt they were in collusion.” Somehow with the help of a ‘Good Samaritan’ he got to a local health centre, where he was treated for cuts, bruises and a possible broken arm. So worried was he of further ramifications he sent a series of over two dozen messages with photos of his bruised face to the Olive Press ‘for security’. He also sent a series of dramatic voice notes, in which he insisted he was ‘really frightened’, insisting it needed to be ‘reported’ by the media. The lawyer, who worked for leading UK firm Irwin Mitchell for years, has now filed an official complaint on the Algarve. After going to an official judicial doctor, he filed the denuncia at the Policia Judiciary (PJ) headquarters in nearby Portimao. It is now being handled by the Lagos Public Prosecutors office, we have established. Alarmingly the Olive Press has found
ACCUSED: Squadron of PFP officers outside the club
at least three other violent incidents at Bon Vivant over recent months. At least two punters were attacked with ‘pepper spray’ by bouncers, while a woman, Ines Paredes, claims she was recently ‘kicked out by the neck’. “He almost hit me,” she added in the post on Google. There are even more serious allegations of a drunk woman being ‘undressed’ on the dancefloor by ‘a member of staff’. And when the incident was reported to the manager it was dismissed as ‘a joke’. All the incidents, including this, were rebuffed by the club’s ‘bar manager’ Marco Monteiro on Google. However, a local expat restaurant owner, told the Olive Press he had heard of ‘a few unprovoked incidents’ similar to this.
Protect
BATTERING: The lawyer was firstly attacked at Bon Vivant in central Lagos
“But it is not anyone I know so it would be best to go to the police and see what they say.” It is unsure what will happen next but the lawyer is clear about one thing. “The job of the police is to protect the public,” he said, now back home in Marbella. “It is really important for the courts to properly deal with incidents like this and particularly Bon Vivant, having read all the other negative reports. “I fear if they don’t, there could be much worse cases over the next few months.” When the Olive Press visited the club, a barman insisted he couldn’t ‘recall any incidents like that’. Manager Marco didn’t get back by phone or WhatsApp messages. A police source confirmed to the Olive Press the ‘case is being dealt with by the Lagos prosecutors’.