Most people would consider Grazalema to be the showcase ‘white village'
in the area. It has a spectacular mountain perch and lots of bars
and restaurants. It was once famous for its cottage weaving industry.
Just one mill remains which makes beautiful blankets with
designs similar to those of the Moorish period.
In common with the
other Pueblos Blancos (white villages), Grazalema contains
some of Spain's most distinctive traditional architecture. Narrow
streets of whitewashed houses, most of them with wrought iron rejas drop steeply down the hillside. Its mountain perch is testimony
to having been built with defence in mind: this was the area of the
ever-changing frontier or frontera between Moslem and Christian
Spain.
Although some of the Sierra de Grazalema has seen
human settlement since prehistoric times - the Cueva Pileta cave was
inhabited at least 25,000 years before Christ - it was during the
Roman period that the Sierra first saw extensive human settlement.
But it was during the Moorish period (712-1492) that the Sierra saw
a huge expansion in its resident population. Most of the Moors who
settled in the Grazalema mountains were Berber hill people who had
been converted to Islam when it spread west through North Africa.
They took naturally to the mountains of the South. The climate and
geography was similar to that which they had left behind in the Mahgreb and there was good grazing to be had for their flocks of sheep and
goats. The villages that the Moors built were, of necessity, on high,
easily defended terrain. Their names are testimony to their founders:
Grazalema derives from Zagreb Salim - the village of the Salim
clan.
The expansion of the population continued steadily
from the 16th through to the 19th century. But at the beginning of
the twentieth century, at a time when the vast majority of the people
already lived a precarious day-to-day existence, there were a series
of bad harvests. It was now that many chose what they saw as the only
path left open to them, that of emigration. The case of Grazalema
graphically illustrates this point. At the beginning of the 20th century
its population numbered almost 14,000. Now, in 2003, the population
of the village is just 2,250. It is only in recent years, with the
'discovery' of Andalucía's interior by both Spaniards and foreigners
that new jobs have been created.
Grazalema is at the heart of the Natural Park - of
the same name - and is one of the most beautiful of all the white
villages. It stands nearly 3,000 feet above sea level in the lee of
the Sierra del Pinar which explains why it receives much higher rainfall
than other villages in the sierra: this mountainous barrier is the
first thing that the clouds come up against as they roll in off the
Atlantic.
It also helps explain the abundance of vegetation that surrounds the
village, especially evident in the lush river valley of the Gaidovar and also the existence of the large swathe of pinsapo pines
that hugs the northern slopes of the Pinar Sierra.
It was the Berber settlers who first introduced the flocks of sheep
and goats, attracted by the abundance of grazing on the mountainsides
which surround the village. In the period following the Reconquest
this tradition continued. With the wool obtained from the flocks the
villagers began to weave thick, oily ponchos which were used
by the shepherds for protection during the colder, wetter months.
The fame of these thickly woven garments spread through the province
and soon the weavers diversified and began to make blankets and horse
cloths.
By the mid nineteenth century there was a thriving cottage indusutry
in the village and the most tangible sign of the wealth that came
from the industry was the building of a number of three-storey houses
with imposing entrances - all of this at a time when in other villages
most people were still living in single storey houses. The village
took on such an affluent air that it became known as Cádiz el Chico (Little Cádiz). There was work for the villagers in the fulling mills,
spinning and carding the wool, knotting blankets, shearing sheep and
transporting the merchandise.
However, the beginning of the twentieth century saw a sudden decline
in the fortune's of the village with the industrialisation of milling
in the north of Spain, most notably in the textile factories of Catalonia.
The cottage industry of Grazalema was no longer able to compete and
most of the mills were forced to close down.
Today just one mill remains which makes for an interesting visit - La Antigua Fábrica de Mantas (walk away from the village square
towards Ronda and you will see it signposted to the left, just beyond
Hotel Peñon Grande). You can see the dying bins, the machines used
for carding the wool and the looms themselves. The blankets, throws,
rugs and shawls that are sold in the shop are made on modern looms
in the factory next door. The blankets are sold throughout Spain and
if you were to visit La Feria in Sevilla or Jerez you'd see
that a Grazalema blanket is an essential accoutrement for the well-turned
out rider.
Reaching the village was a hazardous journey until the early twentieth
century but the village did attract a number of British visitors thanks
to a mention in Richard Ford's book 'A Handbook for Travellers in
Spain and Readers at Home'. Ford likened the village to 'a martlet's
nest' due to the way it seemed to cling to the cliff face. Its most
famous visitor, however, was the British anthropologist Julian Pitt-Rivers
who penned 'People of the Sierra' when he was staying in the village.
The inwardly-looking village described by Pitt-Rivers was to change rapidly with the coming of the roads: one to Zahara, another to Ronda
and a third to Ubrique. Nowadays tourism is a very important part
of the local economy, boosted by the current vogue for 'rural tourism'
amongst both Spaniards and foreigners. Grazalema is seen as the show-case
'white village' and at weekends receives growing numbers of visitors
who mostly come from Sevilla and Cádiz. Fifteen years ago there was
just one small hostal. Now the village has four hotels and many holiday
homes for rent. The large number of visitors also helps explain the
abundance of bars and restaurants in and around the main square.
The village celebrates its annual Feria to coincide with the
feast of their patron Virgin, La Virgen del Carmen, whose feast
day is July 16th. During the Feria, bulls are run through the streets
and the tradition of the toro de cuerda is re-enacted when
the village divides into two groups and each tries to pull a bull,
roped around its horns, into their adversaries terrain.
| 
