La Contraviesa

[Mac]

There is a price to be paid for the plasticos: tattered shreds of
polythene line the arroyos and cling to the trees as we head up into
the high hills of the Sierra de la Contraviesa, which form a barrier
between the Sierra Nevada and the sea. They are themselves 'nevadas'
in this cold winter. Several roads lead up from the coast, all
interesting to drive: the one via Polopos, as yet unmodernised and
with no barriers, is particularly tense. Once on the high passes,
hardly able to stand in the icy gale, I can see the Alpujarran hill
villages where we travelled and stayed a couple of years ago: several
are above the snow line just now, and the lines of wind turbines on
the ridges around are very productive today, but the large valley
between the two sierras looks very green and sheltered. A large new
embalse downstream from Orgiva is slowly filling.

Next day, along the coast towards Almeria, we look for other villages
like Castell de Ferro, but there are none quite as good, and I finally
find myself lost both both navigationally and in horrified fascination
driving through the resort complexes around Almerimar, quite different
from the 'traditional' costas west of Málaga, but just as far removed
from the
Spain(s) I know. I wonder if they will be half-empty this coming
summer?

So we are still here; a perfect mediterranean sunrise (the first I've
seen for years, and at such a civilised hour, too!) is a great
inducement to stay anywhere. I clamber up the rocky slopes by the
castle, picking my way through the scrub and wildflowers, following a
family of deer round the hill, accompanied by the scent of rosemary
and the church bell from the village just below - a village saved by
horticulture.

That's all for now, folks. It's been an odd sort of trip this time,
mainly skirting round old haunts, and certainly not what we planned -
not that we plan much anyway!

Hasta la próxima. ¡Quizás algo un poco diferente!

Mac

PS I know I'm always going on about the weather, but when we got home
we realised how relatively lucky we'd been in Andalucia. The house
was surrounded by deep snow, so this post is a little delayed while I
did some digging out.