| RONDA
Nothing is more surprising in all of Spain than this wild little city. I have searched the dreamed city everywhere, and have at last found it in Ronda! Come and see...
Rainer Maria Rilke
'We sighted Ronda.
It was raised up in the mountains, like a natural
extension of the landscape, and in the sunlight it seemed to me to be
the most beautiful city in the world.'
J. Agustín Goytisolo
 Situated in the Serrania de Ronda mountain range, Ronda is perched
high atop the edge of a steep chasm and overlooks the El Tajo gorge,
which splits the town in two.The two halves of the town face one
another, with the ancient Moorish quarters on one side, and the more
modern section of El Mercadillo on the other. A stone bridge spans the
gorge, linking old with new. Crossing the Puento Nuevo is an excitement
not suitable for everyone. It is a five hundred foot drop to the river
below.
Dark
Tales surrounding the stone bridge abound: Ronda's famous
bullfighter Pedro Romero came home early one day to find his wife in bed
with her lover. In a jealous rage, he stabbed the lover through the
heart, then carried his wife through the streets and threw her over the
edge of the Puento Nuevo. It was as they say, a crime of passion. When
Prosper Merimee heard this dark tale, he immediately began to write the
famous story Carmen, which Bizet later turned into an Opera.
 Ronda
has Spain's oldest and most beautiful bull ring, The Plaza de Toros,
built in 1785 and is still active today. The ring was also used as a
backdrop by Madonna in her 1994 music video for the song Take A Bow. Bullfighting aficionados discuss it in the cafe's as though it
were only yesterday. Twice a month, the
Plaza de Torros transforms itself into a giant flea market and Gypsies
from all over Andalusia are
drawn to the open air of the historic ring to sell their wares. There
are excellent deals to be made for those who know how to bargain.
Orson Wells had a deep connection to Ronda and the local
Ordonez family of bullfighters. And although he died in his Hollywood
Hills home, he chose Ronda as his final resting place and is buried in a
graveyard of bulls on the outskirts of town.
Ronda was Ernest Hemingway's
favorite city in all of Spain.
He
said that it is the perfect place to bolt with someone and for romance,
even better than Paris!
He used the dramatic scenery as a backdrop in
his novel, For Whom the Bell Tolls, describing prisoners of the Spanish
Civil War being thrown alive over the edge of the Puento Nuevo
| | | | THE GYPSY CHRONICLES and RONDA
 When
I began writing The Gypsy Chronicles the
story took place in the wine producing region of Rioja. Basque country.
My Gypsies did not care for Rioja and insisted upon a move... Somewhere
in Andalusia they said, and so I moved my characters to Seville...
Wonderful,
thought I, Seville! The birthplace of my soul... But alas, the fresh joy
of that relocation was not to last. Some of the characters found it
impossible to settle.
Seville suited my Gypsies well enough, but
the wine makers were without a suitable terroir in which to plant their
vines. Seville will not do, they warned ~ a higher, cooler
altitude is required to produce our fine red wine. Searching for a city in Andalucia that produced fine wines I found Ronda
and as it turned out it was perfect for every character in the book: My
Gypsies were pleased because it is located in Andalusia; the wine makers
were impressed with the excellent terroir; the Saint rejoiced, for
there is a convent; and the diamond thief? Well look around: Bandoleers
used to hide out in the rocky mountainous caves surrounding town. Ronda
was perfect! And so, just weeks before the book was headed for
the bindery, I began to rewrite, deepening the sense of place.
Semana Santa inspired the wedding procession scene: Virgin Estrella de la
Flamenca and Alejandro Sabicas ride atop a Charmed Matrimonial bed
through the narrow alleyways of Ronda. Steven Siciliano said that The
Gypsy Chronicles is unorthodox - he is right!
While singing the popular Spanish cursillos folk song De Colores it is customary to join hands and sway while singing. The song is an expression of
one's soul, full of grace and as beautiful as a 'field blooming in
Springtime colors.'The charm of this beloved folk song is used to
great
effect in The Gypsy Chronicles.
Ronda
Ronda Quotes
Ronda is a city hung in the sky on a mountain split in two by the work of the Gods.
Pablo García Baena
In Ronda, one of the most impressive gorges on the face of the
earth. In Ronda there are many streets that should be marked with a sign
for tourists: TO CHAOS. In any stretch of countryside or street which
offers itself to the tourist he is told imperiously that this way he
will get to the Cathedral, the Museum. But in Ronda there are many
streets which take us to ourselves. The gorge has no obligations to the
guides. One leans over the edge of it and may find in its depths fear,
prophecies, prayers or poems
José María Pemán
The little houses in this street in Ronda, with their bay windows on
the ground floor, look as if they were developing a belly. These others
have their bay windows high up… they lean their foreheads forwards. One
would think that both sides of the street wanted to get closer to each
other to tell a malicious secret about the visitor who is passing.
Eugenio D’Ors
In
Ronda there are many streets that arrive at ourselves. The gorge does
not have any commitment with the guides. One looks over
it and can find at the bottom, fear, predictions, prayers or verses.
José María Pemán
“Where that captivation, that yearning for a typical Andalusian
city, of the people, that security for after, that stopped time? This
is, here is Ronda Serranía de Ronda… …Ronda: High and deep, round,
profound, round and tall”
Juan Ramón Jiménez
The spectacle of this city, sitting on the bulk of two rocks rent
asunder by a pickaxe and separated by the narrow, deep gorge of the
river, corresponds very well to the image of that city revealed in
dreams. The spectacle of this city is indescribable and around it lies a
spacious valley with with working fields, oaks and olive groves. And
there in the distance, as if it had recovered all its strength, the pure
mountains rise, range after range, forming the most splendid
background…Nothing in all of Spain is more surprising than this wild
little town. I have searched the dreamed city everywhere, and at last
have found it in Ronda. Come and see...
Rainer Maria Rilke
Ronda is an elegant and lofty city in which the clouds serve as a turban, and its towers as a sword belt.
Abú al Fidá (1273-1331)
We sighted Ronda.
It was raised up in the mountains, like a natural
extension of the landscape, and in the sunlight
it seemed to me to be
the most beautiful city in the world.
J. Agustín Goytisolo
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