Yunquera

What to See in Yunquera

Inside the village, which still preserves part of its medieval street layout, is the Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación parish church, which is considered the church with the largest dimensions in the Sierra de las Nieves. It was erected in 1505 but most of the masonry framework that has been preserved is from the seventeenth century. It has three naves separated by cruciform pillars that support semicircular arches. The vaulted transept is crowned by a small dome with a number of relief decorations.

The Cruz del Pobre (Poor Man’s Cross) hermitage stands next to the village cemetery. The construction, which was completed in 1866, reminds one of popular architecture. Its floor plan and roof are hexagonal. An image of Cristo de la Cruz del Pobre (Christ of the Poor Man’s Cross), who is much revered by the Yunqueranos, overlooks the interior.

Half a kilometre from the village in the direction of El Burgo is the Torre Vigía (Watchtower), which is now the information centre of the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park. It was built in the sixteenth century and is known in Yunquera as "El Castillo" (The Castle). The structure is in the shape of a truncated cone, virtually a cylinder, and is covered by a roof in the shape of a partial sphere. The openings in its masonry walls are extremely flared, as this design was better for defensive purposes.

The Nuestra Señora de Porticate hermitage is a little farther from the village, about five kilometres. It was built in the eighteenth century but was remodelled in 1929. Its construction is very simple, with a rectangular floor plan and a wooden gable roof frame. Built into one of its walls is a small octagonal "camarín" with decorated gesso artwork on its edges. The small structure is crowned by a painted dome of the early nineteenth century Rococo style.

Also rather distant from the village (about four kilometres) is the Arabic watchtower called the Torrecilla, which stands 1,700 metres from the right side of the road that goes to Ronda. It has a circular base and is in the shape of a cylinder, and still preserves parts of its rendering. It is 5.2 metres in diameter and stands 11 metres tall. Its construction is solid up to six metres above the ground, and the living quarters began at that level.

In Calvario Street you will pass by the portal of Casa Zola, a Baroque stately home that resembles Castilian-style mansions. This building was built in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries..

Yunquera’s Fiestas and Gastronomy

The Carnival in late February marks the beginning of the festive schedule in Yunquera. Street parades, masquerade parties and "comparsa" (traditional street musical group) competitions are held during these days, which conclude with the "burial of the sardine", accompanied by its cortege of widows in black. When the sardine is set ablaze the firecrackers packed inside it explode and the thunderous blast is greeted with a general din of noise.

This village celebrates Semana Santa (Holy Week) with great fervour. On Holy Thursday night are the processions of Nuestro Padre Jesús Nazareno (Our Father Jesus of Nazareth) and María Santísima de la Salud y Esperanza (Holy Mary of Health and Hope). On Good Friday, there is a Way of the Cross that starts at the Cristo de la Cruz del Pobre hermitage and is made up exclusively of men. The Santo Sepulcro (Holy Burial), María Santísima de los Dolores y Vera Cruz (Holy Mary of the Sorrows and the True Cross) and Cristo de la Cruz del Pobre processions are held in the afternoon. A "meeting" is staged next to the cemetery, after which the Crucified Christ remains in its chapel while the other two images are returned to the parish church.

Practically the entire village follows behind the Virgen de la Soledad (Virgin of Solitude) in the dawn hours of Good Friday. On Sunday, the image of the Resurrected Christ brings to a close Yunquera’s Passion Week, which is noteworthy for the Castilian-derived tradition of pinning banknotes to the Virgin’s cloak or to the Nazarene’s tunic as a demonstration of gratitude for some favour that has been received.

During the Corpus Christi celebration, the village is decorated with flowers and plants, and the so-called "tables" are set up that display an image of the Lord that is generally adorned with flowers and candles. When the procession passes by a "table" a prayer is said and flower petals are showered on the monstrance. The procession ends in front of a large "table" in the village square.

The eve of the day of San Juan (23 June) is known in Yunquera as the "Los Juanes" fiesta. This is one of the few places where this celebration has a religious element, as richly adorned altars are set up in the streets, with plants, quilts, flowerpots and even dolls arranged around a framed image of a saint. This activity is, naturally, carried out in conjunction with a large verbena (traditional street party) and with the burning of an effigy that has had firecrackers placed inside it beforehand so that the spectacle will not go unnoticed.

The celebration that is known in this village as "El Traslado," (the Transfer) is held on 16 July. This consists of a procession bringing the Virgen del Carmen (Virgin of Mount Carmel) from the Porticate hermitage (the Virgen Chiquita de Porticate, or Small Virgin of Porticate) to the village and the Virgen del Carmen Grande (Large Virgen of Mountain Carmel) being carried in a procession from her church to Porticate. Each image remains one month in its temporary location.

Once her one-month stay in the village is completed, the Virgen Chiquita is returned to Porticate on 15 August, on this occasion in a pilgrimage. At the halfway point of the route, bunches of grapes are placed in the Virgin’s hands and a jasmine garland around her neck. When the pilgrims arrive at Porticate, everyone partakes of a meal and returns to the village at nightfall.

The patron saint fiestas honouring the Virgen del Rosario (Virgin of the Rosary) and San Sebastián are on 7 October. On this date, some of the locality’s most ancient customs are recalled, such as the offering of grapes to the patron saint. With the devotional duties complied with, a small grape trampling activity is held on the village square in which anyone who wishes can participate. The Dawn Rosary is also celebrated on that day. Beginning at seven in the morning the women, primarily, join together and go through the village streets praying. Afterwards there is a breakfast in the square with churros, sweets and chocolate.

Meat, whether game or farm-raised, vegetables, olive oil, flour and wine are the basic ingredients of Yunquera cuisine, among whose indigenous dishes should be noted conejo al ajillo (rabbit in garlic sauce), caldereta (a stew, generally with goat meat), pirriñaca (fried blood with onions, tomatoes and peppers), sopa de tomate (tomato soup) and colmenilla (whose main ingredient is a mushroom that grows in the shade of Spanish firs). Cazuela (casserole), olla de berza (a stew containing cabbage) and homemade sausages (chorizo, salchichón, morcilla and morcón) round out the most authentic list of Yunquera’s gastronomic selection, but no one should forget the empanadillas rellenas de cabello de ángel (pastries filled with a candied squash preparation), buñuelos (fritters) and its famous wine.

More Information About Yunquera

Nature in Yunquera

As has been mentioned previously, the municipality of Yunquera nestles in the Sierra de las Nieves range, and its territory extends both into the Nature Park itself, which covers some 20,000 hectares, and into its surroundings, which have been declared a Biosphere Reserve and occupy an area of almost 94,000 hectares.

This Nature Park is characterised by the enormous number of plant and animal species indigenous to its mountains, hills and meadows. Some of the species encountered in this area are almost unique in the entire world, as in the case of the Spanish fir (pinsapo) or the mountain gall oak. While some others, including the mountain goat and otter, do live in many places, the Sierra de las Nieves is an area where they can remain with full guarantees for their conservation.

Perhaps the most striking thing about the Sierra de las Nieves and its surroundings, however, is its diversity. It is very obvious in its geological makeup, in its scenery, in its climate and above all in its flora and fauna. All of these features have benefited from the region’s strategic location on the borderline between three areas that are very different from one another: the Ronda highlands, the Guadalhorce valley and the Western Costa del Sol.

The influence of the Atlantic on the one hand and the Mediterranean on the other combine with a complex topography that in a very short distance goes from 100 metres above sea level to almost 2,000 metres on the highest peaks (La Torrecilla, at 1,919 metres, Cerro de la Alcazaba, at 1,712 metres and Las Plazoletas, at 1,880 metres). Such variety makes possible various microclimates, according to the different temperatures, precipitation or orientation.

This area’s geological wealth should be kept in mind. Magmatic, metamorphic and sedimentary materials, subjected to different temperatures and precipitations, have formed a soil that is so heterogeneous that it is enormously favourable to the Nature Park’s botanical wealth. Time has also been on the side of this place, which became a frontier between the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. This geological situation was the decisive factor allowing the existence on this soil of Alpine, North African and subtropical features. By creating their own eco-systems, these have made possible the existence of the Spanish fir, among other species.

The Sierra de las Nieves offers almost unlimited possibilities for hiking and trail walking, but there are eight "official" established routes-we are speaking here only of those that begin in Yunquera-that cross or border on the Nature Park and its surroundings. The first route, which starts in Yunquera like all the rest, is the one that goes from Puerto del Caucón to El Tajo la Caína. Its level of difficulty is low and it will take about 3 hours. The others are the El Saucillo-Torrecilla trail (high level of difficulty; duration: 7/8 hours); El Saucillo-Puerto Bellina (difficulty: low; duration: 2/3 hours); Los Quejigales-Peñón de los Enamorados (difficulty: medium; duration: 3 hours); Los Sauces-Peñón de Ronda (difficulty: medium; duration: 3.5 hours); Yunquera-Pico de los Enamorados (difficulty: medium because the trip is so long; duration: 6 hours); Yunquera-Tolox (difficulty: medium to high; duration: 3.5 hours), and last of all, the climb from Peñón de Ronda to Los Sauces (difficulty: low –the first stretch is sloping and the second is level; duration: 3 hours).

In some of these trails, the visitor will find old brick structures with a big cavity in the form of a well on the ground. These wells were used until the 1930s to store snow. Many years ago, when refrigerators had not been invented yet, a variety of methods were used to preserve food: salting, brining, curing, pickling, and, of course, keeping food at low temperatures. The use of snow to freeze food was very popular in the Sierra de las Nieves region, whose environment was perfect for the freezing industry to develop. The snowfield workers used to go out in the spring, after the last snowfall of the year. They took picks and shovels to cut and handle the snow, which they put into snow wells and tamped to get ice from it. The wells were isolated by means of a thin stone-and-brick wall and the multiple layers were covered on top with earth, branches and twigs. In the summer months, the big pieces of ice were carried to the villages on donkey’s backs by night, that is, when the temperatures were lower. Snow and ice were carried from Yunquera to nearby villages and as far as Ronda. Some of the snow wells have been rehabilitated and you can find them as soon as you leave Yunquera.