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Benalauría is situated about 2km off the A369 road. The road is not as good as the road down to Benarrabá which has recently been completely resurfaced. It is however a very beautiful drive with rock outcrops covered in wild flowers (June), on one side and the breathtaking Genal Valley on the other. So taking it slowly we headed down the twisting road. We parked the car in the car park at the entrance to the pueblo. This is always a good idea. We usually leave the car on the edge of the pueblos as driving through them can be very tricky. We walked into the town plaza. It is very very pretty and quite impressive. The Town Hall / Public Records office is a lovely looking building with large wooden doors and flags flying from the balconies. The plaza has a number of mature palm trees which always add to the scene especially when the sky is as blue as it was on this day. A Bar near the plaza had a very pretty parrot in a cage hanging outside the door. We walked through the streets exploring the town. a gang of about ten or twelve local women were preparing to paint one of the towns walls. We have seen a lot of public works being done by groups of local people. As part of Spain's social security system the unemployed must do so many days public work.
They all said 'hola' as we walked past, another lovely thing about the small Spanish villages everyone smiles and says hello. We stood at a 'Mirador' viewing point and watched the local swifts flying in the valley, they were nesting above us and at times flew within a few feet of our heads. The swallows, swifts and house martins are fantastic entertainment. There are hundreds of them in all the pueblos. We both loved Benalauría. Definitely one of our favourite pueblos. Here's Jane in front of some bougainvillea.
Just as we were leaving we met a lovely couple from Braintree in Essex, they were touring Andalucía and loved it. We love bumping into people and chatting. We gave them our card and web address so perhaps they'll see this Benalauría page.
We really like Benalauría and revisited in early August.
This mule train was about to go to work as we arrived. We were looking at this building on the edge of the plaza. It has been renovated and there is a popular fountain on the front. Jane being eagle eyed and a lot more observant than me, spotted something very unusual about this building. The roof only spans two thirds of the building and the rooms on the right hand side are just frontage like a movie set.
You can see the hillside behind through windows.
We've visited Benalauría many times.
It remains one of our favourite pueblos. Although parking is often difficult.
One way round this is to park in Benadalid and walk ... ;-) We have completed this signposted walk (in both directions), it is very beautiful and has to be recommended.