Andalucía – Antequera

Our kids joined us for their Christmas holiday break from college, and we had a couple of weeks of great family time and exploration. With a rental car and a laid-back vision in mind, we rented an AirBnB in the lovely traditional town of Antequera because it is very centrally located in the region of Andalucía. It is actually called El Corazón de Andalucía (“The Heart of Andalusia”). From there we would make day trips when we wanted to visit the various other towns of interest (usually within an hour drive), but we also enjoyed relaxed downtime in Antequera itself. 

Antequera is considered one of Andalucía’s “white villages” (or “pueblos blancos” in Spanish), which are characterized by their whitewashed buildings, narrow streets, colorful flowers, and hilltop locations. Interestingly, Antequera is not really a tourist destination, so it was not crowded at all and felt the most authentic Spanish town of all the places we visited. Speaking Spanish was more necessary here, and Laura and Rory were incredibly helpful in this regard. They had both studied Spanish in high school, spent time in Mexico, and thus their Spanish language skills were better than mine or Conor’s. Interestingly, Rory was better at understanding what people were saying, could translate for us, then Laura could speak back. It was a fun dynamic. 😉 

Some interesting aspects of Antequera are its lovely old town area, its hilltop views, the fact it has 33 churches (which is a lot for a town of around 41,000 people), and its nearby “Lovers Rock” (La Peña de los Enamorados). There are different legends around Lovers Rock, one of which involves the daughter of a Muslim ruler who fell in love with a Christian soldier. They ran away together because their love was not approved of, but they were trapped atop this mountain. Instead of surrendering, they chose to jump together from the mountain and remain together for eternity. Whether this was actually true or not, it’s undeniable that Lovers Rock looks like the profile of a man’s face, and once you see it, you can’t unsee it! Lovers Rock also happens to be a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

A couple of other UNESCO World Heritage Sites are in and near Antequera. The first is the Dolmens site, an ancient burial tomb built somewhere between 3,500-3,000 BC. We never managed to visit the inside, but we did drive by many times! The other UNESCO site is called El Torcal, and this was easily my favorite place in the vicinity. El Torcal is a large nature preserve with amazing, unique limestone rock formations that were created over millions of years by the sea. El Torcal is about a 25 minute drive south of Antequera, but so worth the visit. You can choose from a few different hiking paths and enjoy the views, the formations, and a really interesting hike due to the rocky terrain.

Back in town, the other important site to visit is the Alcazaba, the hilltop fortress built back in 14th century. (Check that website for better photos!) The Moors used this strategic position to defend the town from Christian armies and held strong until 1410 when Prince Ferdinand of Aragon finally conquered the town. Other places in town worth a visit were the bullring (which opened in 1848) and the museum of Antequera (housed in an 18th century palace).

I must include a shoutout to our amazing AirBnB host, Smara. We’ve experienced nearly 50 AirBnBs over the years, and Smara is, by far, the most thoughtful host we’ve ever experienced. She had thought of everything you might want in a house including heaters in every room, electric blankets on each bed, a shopping trolley to take to the grocery store, and even Christmas decor with a mini tree, presents and all. Our holiday was made more festive and comfortable due to all of her efforts, and if you feel Antequera would be a good base for a holiday as we did, we would highly recommend her beautiful place! AirBnB – Casa Cerro

And, recommended restaurants: Restaurante Leila; Mar D’Gloria

If you’re thinking about a holiday in southern Spain, we can highly recommend Antequera as a lovely place to stay and a great base from which to visit all the other interesting cities within Andalucía!