El Tempranillo

On a lovely day with temperatures in the mid twenties, we drove the forty five minutes or so to the beautifully picturesque village of Grazalema, that nestles in the mountains south of Olvera.

The reason for our trip was to attend the third and final day of the celebration of the villages association with the bandit known as "El Tempranillo" who was active in the mountains of Cadiz in the 19th century.

The road to Grazalema is a very windy one with many bends but the scenery around is absolutely beautiful.

We arrived at about 12.15 pm, parked the car just outside the village and walked up into the centre.






A part of the village had been transformed into a replica of how Grazalema presumably was back in the 1830's with taverns, stables and shops and the inhabitants of the village had dressed in costume of the period adding to the authenticity.

During the course of the event, the bandits and soldiers played out several scenes, firing off their muskets, which I believe are original from the 19th century.

This scene seemed to show an attack on the jail.

We stopped off at several of the taverns, just to take in the atmosphere of course, and in one was this poster displaying the "wanted" bandoleros.






This chap was one of the most elusive, wanted for several murders but proving very elusive to capture.

We witnessed the public hanging of one of the bandoleros, suffering a long and lingering death.





















Presumably the victims of the bandits.....the one nearest this end died with his boots on.

After an hour or so of looking around and enjoying the event, we headed off to have some lunch in one of the many restaurants in the centre of the village.



After lunch we walked around for a while admiring the many people in period dress and the houses with their pretty floral displays and just generally enjoying the atmosphere of the fiesta.

Grazalema is certainly one of the prettiest villages in our area and its location is stunning. Even without the fiesta, it is definately worth visiting for its narrow streets, alleyways and pretty houses.

This lovely lady was sitting on her doorstep and was happy to pose for a picture.

A brilliant day out and a note in the diary to return for the fiesta next year.