A bit of news from the Grazalema Guide!… Here in Grazalema, international tourism seems to be picking up again with quite a few French, German and Dutch visitors exploring the village and walking trails. Very few UK visitors still, but hopefully this will be solved once borders open properly again and covid restrictions become more relaxed.

Its still really odd not seeing the groups of walkers setting off in the mornings for the peaks of the Sierra de Grazalema or neighbouring villages. Tourism has changed here over the covid years with much more day visitors on motorbikes, cyclists and day visitors. There has also been a huge increase in campers vans parked up for short stays.

Out in the countryside, almond trees in blossom are the most noticeable which adorn the hillsides and fields, varying from almost white to a shocking pink. The Paperwhite narcissus, Branched asphodels and Broad-leaved iris as each can create swathes of colour across pastures. Even the much smaller flowered Andaluz storksbill and Field marigolds can cover a large area in pink or golden yellow blooms. Migratory birds are returning and spring is definately around the corner.

If you are looking for a wildlife guide for this area then look no further than Sue of Nature Plus Grazalema. More information here: https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/nature-plus-grazalema/

Regular visitors to Grazalema will notice a few changes in the Hotels, bars and restaurants as the guys running the Kiboka burger and sports bar have now taken over the Simancon restaurant after the previous owners retired. The Torreón restaurant has new owners as does the bar Travesía. There is a new burger joint opening in the old Contrastes bar next month and Rumores bar is now removing the bakery area and replacing it with a new eating area. The hotel Peñon Grande has been closed for a while now and I believe its up for sale!

Here is a bit of a roundup from our other tourist infomation projects in this fantastic corner of Western Andalucia

Wildside Holidays

Spring is on its way and it is great to see bookings for the coming season are on the up and up. Hopefully very soon we can put this awful covid event behind us and get on with what we are good at, which is, of course, guiding people across some of the most stunning natural areas of Spain.

Traffic to the home page of Wildside Holidays is now exceeding over 4000 unique visitors each month and (not surprising to us) some of the wildlife information pages are getting upwards of 20,000 hits a month. (Especially the life cycles of the processionary caterpillar and various reptile pages). So, the plan for the coming months is to continue the ongoing project of Iberian wildlife articles as well as some info on the Vias Verdes of Spain and finishing all the entries for the Global Geoparks.

Sustainable rural and wildlife tourism in Spain is a major key to wildlife and habitat protection. There are many studies showing how wildlife tourism can impact local economies, habitats and the wildlife it contains in a very positive way. Read more about Wildside Holidays here: https://wildsideholidays.co.uk/

Ronda Today

Ronda Today continues to be the largest and most informative English language information website for the town of Ronda. A walking tour of Ronda is a pleasant and enjoyable way to spend a lazy few hours, almost everything you could want to see in Ronda is no more than 200-300 metres from the new bridge. See the homepage here: https://www.rondatoday.com/

Ronda, too, has suffered greatly from the covid crisis. Hotels,bars and restaurants have changed hands, reduced staff or simply closed. That said Ronda continues to be an important bucket list destination for foreign travellers and our site reaches more than 20,000 unique visitors each month. Traffic and hotel bookings on the site a rising steadily so the outlook is pretty good. Over the next few months we’ll be editing and reviewing certain pages to make sure all the information is current and up to date.

The Caminito del Rey

The Caminito del Rey website has continued to grow in both traffic and content. During the last four months we have sold over 20,000 euros worth of tickets via the affiliate adverts.

When the official website stops working or selling tickets, sales from our site continue, helping people to get and entry ticket for this very popular destination. Ticket sales for the Caminito del Rey in 2022 look to be record breakers for us so our recent affiliation with Get Your Guide continues to be a great success. Guided tours for the Caminito del Rey can be found here: https://www.caminodelrey.es/get-your-guide-for-the-caminito-del-rey/

Recently the operation of the Caminito del Rey was taken over by a new company and so hopefully the official website will be improved as well as the general infrastructure such as local connecting roads, bus services, the interpretation and carparking areas. Time will tell but you can be sure any news and changes will be published first in English at https://www.caminodelrey.es

The Iberia Nature Forum

The forum is developing into a nice English language resource for information about the wildlife of Spain and there are quite a few interesting subjects ranging from the VCF Tracking Iberian black vultures, the bearded vulture 2022 Andalucia captive breeding season, A petition to stop illegal water extraction in Doñana and the collapse of the endemic lizard Podarcis pityusensis on the island of Ibiza.

Here are a few other topics at the Iberia Nature Forum. Please feel free join in with the conversatons and don’t forget to share with your family and friends across your social networks!

• If you go visiting the Granada geopark area then look out for giant hyenas as researchers from the University of Malaga (UMA) have discovered the largest den recorded in Europe that was home to a species of giant hyenas in Venta Micena, Orce, near the Guadix-Baza basin in Granada.
  https://iberianatureforum.com/forums/topic/giant-hyenas-in-venta-micena-pachycrocuta-brevirostris/
• Interesting to see that Wednesday the 5th of December 2021, the new law about animals (especially domestic) was implemented… “los animales son considerados en España seres sintientes” is a big part of this as it means they are no longer classified as a piece of furniture but a sentient being and his comes with a lot of legal rights that a person has (us also being sentient?) 🙂 …..
  https://iberianatureforum.com/forums/topic/new-laws-on-pets-in-spain/
• The company Nueva Pescanova is to invest over €50 million in a plant to produce 3,000 tonnes of octopus per year, equivalent to 10% of the catches of the cephalopod made each year by the Spanish fleet. There is a lot of opposition to this plan from many wildlife groups.
  https://iberianatureforum.com/forums/topic/first-octopus-farm-to-open-in-spain/
• The bearded vulture breeding season has started already with 10 eggs being incubated in the captive breeding program in Andalucia.
  https://iberianatureforum.com/forums/topic/eight-bearded-vultures-released-in-andalucia-in-2021/

Look forward to hearing news from your “neck of the woods” on the forum!

So, there is a bit of news from News from the Grazalema Guide, Wildside Holidays, Ronda Today, The Caminito del Rey and the Iberia Nature Forum!

Please feel free to share will all of your friends and family across your social networks and blogs! 🙂