Andalusia in black and white

We went on holiday to Andalusia, bit of a road trip and a visit to the sherry triangle.

I took my Pentax MX with a 50mm and a 28mm lens and some rolls of Ilford FP4.

We flew in to Malaga, where we spent the day navigating vast amounts of people and generally exploring the old town.

Black and white might seem like an odd choice for holiday snaps but I’m looking to submit to a zine that asked for Ilford FP4, and I was up for a challenge. Plus it meant I could develop at home.

Then we went to Setenil, which was so busy we couldn’t move the car so went straight on to a small place nearby called Ariate.

Then onto Ronda for a couple of days. An impressive town built on top of a massive gorge.

It’s also over run with people, but at night the coach trips leave and you get the place to yourself.

The bridge is probably the main pull to Ronda, perched miles up above the river, with a waterfall underneath. The view point was super busy so I didn’t wait for the sun to catch the water.

After a couple of nights in Ronda we ventured across the hills. First stop was Zahara de la Frontera, a village right on top of a mountain.

Black and white is probably a terrible choice for your sunny holiday snaps but I was hoping it would render the white towns of Andalusia nicely, and sometimes it did.

Something about Zahara got me taking more pictures than probably anywhere else, even though we were only there for a few hours.

Then on to Arcos de la Frontera, same day. It was empty, and the sun was getting intense. I got one of my favourite pictures of the trip though:

Then down to Sanlucar de Barrameda for a couple of days. Our first foray into the Sherry triangle. I didn’t get as many pictures from this point in but it was a good time. What a chill town full of happy people.

Then for a couple more days in Jerez, the centre of the Sherry universe. Again I wasn’t fancying taking too many pictures but again we had a great time.

Then a day on the road through Rota, and the final point on the triangle El Puerto de Santa Maria. It didn’t strike me as a super interesting town but we had a great lunch there, and I noticed you can get the ferry to Cadiz reasonably cheaply. If I’d known this I think we would have spent more time here.

Anyway then on to Cordoba. Again I didn’t get pictures but we stopped in a cool place called Olvera, then headed north to Osuna and to Ecija. Saw flamingos on the way, which is why I’m telling you all this.

Cordoba was a shock to the system after a quiet week drinking sherry in tabancos - absolutely chaotically rammed full of tourists. Barely room to breathe in the old town.

At 0800 the next day Cordoba was a ghost town, eerily quiet which barely a couple of people in the cafes having some breakfast. Back to Malaga that day for the plane home.

Anyway it felt like a big trip and not that many photos, but it was a really great week and it was lovely to just arse around in the sun eating tapas and drinking fino. I’d forgotten to what extent southern Spain has it all: sea, mountains, Moorish architecture, flamenco, endless orange and olive trees. Come in Spring before it hits 40C.