The White Villages of Spain

Posted by Mari Nicholson Oct 19, 2007

I’ve just returned from Spain where I was touring the area known as Los Pubelos Blancos (the White Villages) in the Province of Cadiz. Aeons ago the villages were fortresses, inhabited by the Moors who ruled Iberia in the days before the Christian re-conquest in the 15th century. Invariably these white villages are perched high up on a mountain.

It was deeply satisfying for me to find that in the villages, the music heard drifting from the open windows of houses, bars, and cafés was still flamenco, the plaintive gipsy music and song, cante hondo, that runs so deep through Lorca’s work. This was as far removed from the tourist flamenco found along the coast as it was possible to get.

My best memory is of sitting high up in the mountains surrounded by inquisitive wild mountain goats and watching golden eagles circle in the cloudless blue sky above.

Sadly I never managed to get a good photograph of an eagle - or even a good one of a goat as my nervousness kept me from approaching too close - but my companion on this trip was professional photographer Sarah Preston who now lives in Paris and is shortly to have a new exhibition of her photographs there. Her images are magic, you can almost smell the herby grasses and hear the bleating of the goats! If you see her name, go see her pictures.

We were both in Grazalema with Malaga Workshops who hold courses in the area covering photography, painting, novel writing, and travel writing. The area is chosen because it is a totally relaxing place for writers and a place which inspires painters and photographers, and because touring in the area is so rewarding.

I’ve been rewarded with memories, images, and music that still haunts me.