We drove today to the pueblo of Benamahoma in the hope of seeing the festival of Moors and Christians, celebrating the reconquest of Andalucia by the Christians in the 15th century. The pueblo is about an hours drive south-west of Olvera in the Grazalema Natural Park. We chose not to take the route over the mountains via Grazalema, instead taking the pleasant drive towards Prado del Rey and then through El Bosque, arriving in Benamahoma at midday.
To the sound of gunshots, we eventually found a place to park at the bottom of the pueblo near the fountain and started the climb up to where the noise was coming from. Parking spaces were very limited - an indication of the popularity of the fiesta.
After a few stops to regain our breath, we arrived in the main part of the village just in time to witness what appeared to be a skirmish between the Moors and Christians. 
It was definately "no holds barred" stuff and the participants were very enthusiastic in re-enacting the event...........meaning that if you got in the way, you were in danger of becoming more involved than perhaps you wanted to be
The leaders of each group faced each other off in the nearby plaza, issuing threat and counter threat, before cooling off in the ornamental pool. Many of the onlookers, including yours truly, also got a good drenching. No complaints though....the temperature must have been in the high thirties.
After ten minutes or so, the procession moved off into the village.........
.......leaving the plaza in a state of peace and tranquility.
This plaque was on a building in the plaza, dedicated I think to the first democratically elected mayor of Benamahoma.
Rather than follow the procession, we took the opportunity to wander around the now quiet pueblo. We noticed quite a few of these ceramic wall plaques, more here than we have seen in other places, adding decoration and information about Benamahoma.
Looking down on a quiet plaza.
We came upon this shrine which seemed a popular place for posing for photo's.
The inside of the shrine.
We passed by this lovely stepped street, most definately not for climbing today, but the water fountain at the bottom was more than welcome for a cold drink.
Continuing on, we came to this small bullring, which was quite a surprise for such a small village. It wasn't open but the sign on the gate suggested that the street actually passed through the centre of the bullring....presumably closed due to the fiesta.
This small church was just outside the bullring.
We really liked Benamahoma, one of the prettiest villages that we have visited.
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