Gaucín
Written by Geoff Forster
Gaucín: Gaucín ... The Balcony of the Genal .. with views out to the Mediterranean, Gibraltar and the Atlas mountains of Africa (on a haze free day) Views from the other side of the town into the Genal and Guadiaro valleys.
There is quite a large British population in Gaucín. For over twenty years the British have been buying up property here. Prices as a result are very much higher than elsewhere in the area.
A large number of artists live here. Someone said to us 'everyone in Gaucín is either a painter or writing a book.' (hence the arty water colour title)
We come to Gaucín a lot. It is the nearest village to Benarrabá where we live.
The restaurants are very good. We regularly eat Almuerzo here. Descanso para almorzar/comida is a leisurely lunch usually taken between 2-4pm.
There is also a good pet supply shop where a vet holds a surgery on wednesdays.
Gaucín attracts a lot of tourists, it is not uncommon to sit outside bars and find Canadians, Americans and British at the next tables. I guess this is because it is a such a wonderful place to unwind in the frsh mountain air and have a relaxing drink!
The church is lovely with a bell tower and lovely doorway. The old part of Gaucín around the church is my favourite part of town.
Gaucín is dominated by a rocky crag with a ruin of a castle on the top.
The Castillo del Aguila (Castle of the Eagle) it is supposed to be open to the public. Open on Wednesday - Sunday and Public holidays (closed Mon and Tues) June - Sept. 10:30 - 13:30 ... 18:00 - 20:00
Rest of Year 10:30 - 13:30 .. 16:00 - 18:00
We have climbed the steep roughly cobbled track twice now, when the castle was supposed to be open. Only to find a locked iron gate barring our way. The track is very very steep and in the Andalucian summer it is no fun climbing the steep track for no good reason.
There is supposed to be a Ermita (Church) in the grounds. We have taken some pictures of the castle from nearby a nearby vantage point. There is a nicely laid out garden area below the crag with excellent views to the coast on a haze free day.
The picture below is probably about as close as we will get to the castle 10x zoom helps!
The town plan below shows that Gaucín has three limbs.
The A369 road from Ronda to Algeciras runs across the northern edge of town then heads west. The A377 Casares - Manilva road from the the south intersects with the A377 at the western edge of Gaucín.
This means most people end up in the western part of the town and walk to the centre.
We wondered about Gaucín it didn't seem to have a church, town hall or a plaza and it was on about our sixth visit to the town before we ventured far enough east (right hand side in the photo above) that we found them. 
This next shot is from the road between Gaucín and Benarrabá where we have our self catering apartment to rent from 2005.
The Castle of the Eagle sits high on the crag as you drive the short distance to Gaucín.The next shot was taken just outside Gaucín on the A369 looking back over the pueblo to the NE.
Here's Jane looking very composed after our first failed attempt to view the Castle.This is where the road turns to track and the climb to the top becomes steeper. Bearing in mind that you have already walked through the pueblo and climbed steadily to reach this point .... perhaps there's another route we haven't found yet. 
One day we were passing the church and noticed the doors were open so we peeped inside, seeing there were other 'tourists' looking at the statues and paintings we wandered in. The other 'voyeurs' soon left so I took a few quick shot of the inside ...
The first is large painting of the Baptism Christ. Quite stylised, I guess not too old. Very nicely done. 
The next three photographs show two side recesses with large carvings and statues, the third is the main altar area. 
We left the church and headed off to find the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) and Plaza.
The Ayuntamiento was a little smaller than we expected, it is obscured by this very nice tree. 
The plaza was also smaller and less grand than expected a nearby fountain with six heads built three+ centuries ago looks better in real life than the photo, although all the chins have disappeared and the copper pipes sticking out of the mouths makes you wonder how much care was taken when this ancient fountain was restored?
Gaucín has a number of hotels restaurants and street Cafés. This fountain in a small plaza area is a popular tourist area.
Jane likes sitting outside these Cafés 'people watching' and listening to the English voices.
I'm not quite as keen, I prefer the more traditional bars of Benarrabá. 
Despite the large British population Gaucín is still a lovely Spanish pueblo. The street are full of lovely traditional houses and it is a pleasure to walk around this wonderful place with its views of the Mediterranean and Gibraltar to the south and the Rio Guadiaro and Genal valleys to the North.
The next few photographs show some of the lovely streets and houses in Gaucín.
As you can see Gaucín is very beautiful. It really is a lovely place. Some of the restaurants are excellent value especially at lunchtime.
... We do like Gaucín.