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Serrato
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What to see
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Town history
Gastronomy
  • Serrato is a little, hidden-away ‘malagueño’ village in the Ronda highlands, located in the region of Guadalteba and the Sierra de las Nieves. With barely 500 inhabitants, Serrato is an ideal destination to learn about rural life in the Costa del Sol and discover the natural beauty of its surroundings. The hospitality and character of its people will win you over.

    THINGS TO DO IN SERRATO

    MONUMENTS

    To begin your visit to Serrato, we recommend you start with the Church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario. It was built at the start of the 16th century after the Christian Reconquest of the villages in the Ronda mountain range. Over the course of the last centuries, the temple has been restored on various occasions. The last restoration was in 2009.

    Furthermore, we recommend you visit the popular Fuente del Caño. It is difficult to know for sure when the fountain was built, but it was last restored in 2008. The excess water from the fountain reaches an old well, located a few metres down below, at the entrance of the village.

  • The best way to get there from Málaga is to go on the A-357. Once you pass Ardales, continue on the A-367 and then take the diversion to the MA-47 reach Serrato. The journey will take about an hour.

  • NATURAL RESOURCES

    Nature lovers will enjoy the source of the Cañamero river. Its waters make up a stream with small waterfalls, surrounded by a beautiful landscape of leafy green forests. Moreover, many wild animals live in Serrato"s surroundings, such as foxes, wild boar, mountain goats or eagle owls. Serrato"s idyllic location makes it perfect for discovering some of the most beautiful spots in the province of Malaga.

    FESTIVALS

    Serrato is a village of hospitable people and strange traditions. We invite you to discover them during the best time of the year: its festivals. On the 19th March Serrato celebrates "el Día de la Vieja" ("The Day of the Old Woman") when the town"s children make dolls, the "old women", which represent the bad moments of the year. These extravagant dolls are burned and stoned at the end of the festival during a popular pilgrimage.

    The 7th of October is the day of the town"s patron saint, the Virgen del Rosario, which is celebrated by parading with the virgin and by holding a mass in the church which bears her name.

    GASTRONOMY

    Serrato"s most popular dishes are made with local farm produce, such as asparagus and "tagarninas" or "golden thistles" (a wild herb found in this region). We recommend trying the "tagarninas" stew and the famous Serrato "hervía" soup, a thick vegetable soup garnished with egg, ham or oranges, amongst many other possible garnishes.

    Anyone who visits this town in the province of Malaga must not forget to try its marvellous confectionary. "Guñuelos" (a local version of "buñuelos" or Spanish doughnuts), "roscos de vino o de naranja" (wine or orange bread rolls) and sugar tarts covered in toasted almonds, are only a few of the sweet treats which can be found in every home in Serrato.

  • The origins of Serrato date back to prehistoric times, since it was in the Neolithic period that the first agricultural communities settled in these surroundings, attracted by the fertility of the land and the abundance of water. However, the main remains found in the area come from the Roman and Arab periods. The remains of Ortegícar Castle, on the border with the municipality of Cañete la Real, belong to the latter.

    During the Roman era, there must have been a rustic villa in Serrato, as evidenced by the remains discovered in the Cortijo de los Villares. A marble sculpture known as the "Serrato Shepherd" was found there, as well as a bronze head of Dionysus together with other fragments of the same statue. In addition to these pieces, dated between the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, various ceramic and architectural fragments were found.

    Little is known of the subsequent development of Serrano, although there is evidence that it was an independent municipality before coming under the mandate of the municipality of Cuevas del Becerro in the 19th century. However, in 1898, the small village requested, by means of a historical document, to be annexed to Ronda. It even undertook to look upon this town "as a loving mother", granting it "all its rights and sharing equal burdens".

    This situation lasted until 1994, when the citizens of Serrato decided in a referendum to initiate the path to independence from Ronda. Five years later, the mountain village was constituted as an Autonomous Local Entity and twelve years later began to complete its definitive segregation process. It was not until December 2014 that the Junta de Andalucía approved the document that made Serrato the 103rd municipality in the province of Málaga.

  • Serrato's cuisine uses foods coming from the land as its base ingredients like asparagus or Spanish oyster thistle. In the winter, locals will eat the Spanish oyster thistle stew and Serrato's "boiling" soup. And for dessert, enjoy sugar cakes coated in toasted almonds.


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Characteristics

  • Inhabitants (501-1,000)
  • Inland area

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