Cartajima

Cartajima, a quiet pueblo blanco, is a small mountain village; electoral roll is 250 but full-time residents are probably closer to a hundred. The remainder are people who are on the electoral roll but don´t live here full time but either in nearby Ronda or down on the coast where there are better work opportunities.

Despite its diminutive size Cartajima is fully equipped. Apart from the Best Inland Hotel in Malaga (Los Castaños!) It boasts the following amenities:

  • Several bars and restaurants and fabulous vistas of the surrounding mountains
  • 1 shop
  • spectacular mountain setting
  • fruitful chestnuts and trees
  • town hall with helpful staff
  • pharmacy
  • doctor weekly (Ronda state-of-the-art new hospital is just 15 minutes away)
  • gym (10 euros/month)
  • padel court
  • football/basketball field
  • swimming pool open in July and August
  • outdoor exercise machines
  • primary school

So you can see that, although we consider Cartajima as an undiscovered Pueblo Blanco, it may not have been discovered by tourism but it has not been forgotten by local and national government who pour a lot of support into these small villages in order to avoid depopulation. And there is plenty going on! When you come to stay you will find much to entertain you, simple entertainments that fill the heart with joy and the mind with peace.

The traditional festivals are celebrated with exuberance! Semana Santa or Easter retains its peculiar combination of catholicism and paganism which is totally fascinating, if a bit noisy! The August Feria, a one week day and night festival of theatre and comedy, all-night dancing to live music, and a procession of the virgin on the 15th August. Every June the villagers go on pilgrimage just up the road with an icon from the church who they put in the hedge and then party on till the early hours – Andalucians are great at combining the secular with the sacred.

Cartajima is one of the seven villages of the Alto Genal Valley. Each one has its charm and there are walking trails (or roads) connecting them to each other. We have developed walking routes to share with our guests and even offer a rescue service if you would rather be driven back home.

We look forward to sharing with you this uniquely unspoiled part of Andalucia, southern Spain.