Alpandeire
Written by Geoff Forster
Alpandeire: We headed along the A369 road towards Ronda. Just a few kilometres before Ronda we turned onto the MA-515 this takes you back up the other side of the Genal valley and also to the higher reaches near the rivers source. A beautiful twisting mountain road with some great views.
Alpandeire is one of the Alto Genal valley pueblos. The village has the largest, most architecturally interesting church that we have seen so far. It is quite impressive and dominates this pretty pueblo.
The people of Alpandeire were very friendly, we were greeted by everyone we met. An old lady pulled up a piece of a plant we were admiring in her garden and gave it to us.
The church is home to a large number of nesting swifts.
It was a very hot day and we popped into a bar near the church for refreshment. Inside the spacious bar room the female bar person was showing six old men a pannier and saddle cloth that she had made and fitted onto a six inch plastic donkey. We drank our drinks and watched with some amazement the genuine interest that this was generating, after about ten minutes (about 9 minutes and forty five seconds longer than it deserved) they were still lifting up the cloth and inspecting the girth and pannier underneath ... we left.
The pueblo was the home of Fray Leopoldo.
I'm not too sure who this priest was, but he is held in great esteem by the people of Alpandeire. His house is marked. There is a shrine like flower bed with his picture inset. Just outside the town on a rocky mount overlooking the pueblo is a life size statue. We stopped there and took some photographs later in the year, the photographs are further down this page. 
The pueblo is quite steep and the streets twist and turn and it feels like lovely traditional village as you walk around. It has great views across the valley. You can see the following pueblos on the other side of the valley Atajate, Benadalid, Benalauría, Algatocín and a distant Benarrabá. You can see an equally distant Alpandeire from the roof terrace of the self catering Benarrabá apartment you can rent and then you could see all of these pretty pueblos for yourselves!. 
Here's Jane smiling, a few minutes earlier she wasn't ... a large grasshopper (harmless) flew into the back of her head, it then landed on her back, fortunately she was only aware of the initial thump to her cranium and didn't realise it had landed on her! I flicked it off and she never saw it!
Two days later we did see another. They can fly but are either blind or have no sense of direction (or both) they are fairly rare only two sighted in five weeks and are completely harmless except for the fear factor if you're not keen on large flying bugs. 
Alpandeire: (Second Visit)
The magical Genal with its steep sides and heavily wooded slopes dog legs right (in this photograph) towards the source near Igualeja.
The hills behind Alpandeire are spectacular but barren. The harsh soil-less mountains which the A369 road snakes through to Ronda.
The green unspoiled Genal Valley is a hidden oasis in the harsh dryness of the south of Spain. It defies mechanisation with its steep and rock filled soil, this protects it from industrialisation and possible pollution. We are lucky to live in the least polluted valley in Europe.
This is a special place. 
The magnificent church in Alpandeire. 
The statue of Fray Leopoldo overlooks the pueblo.
We have since found out that Frey Leopoldo was born on 24 June 1866 and baptised as Francisco Tomas Marquez Sánchez, at the age of 33 he left the village to become a Capuchin monk in Granada, where he remained until his death in 1956. His was kind and generous to the poor and needy and it is said he performed a number of miracles and his tomb is regularly visited by believers in search of divine help. The process of his beatification began in 1961 and his sainthood may follow soon.
This strange hill has been recently planted with young trees and stands out from the harsh background. 
The rocks at the base of the statue are filled with tokens from visitors to the statue, mainly key rings and hundreds of cigarette lighters ??? 
Back in Alpandeire ... This is a lovely and spectacular shaded patio, the vine originates in the planter outside the gate. The pelargonium is huge and obviously thriving. 
If anyone made us an offer we couldn't refuse for our house, Alpandeire would be one of the places we would consider relocating to.
It has quite steep streets but is packed with character houses. 
Jane is sitting on a stone seat in the archway, behind her is a small pond with fish in it. 
Alpandeire is a fantastic pueblo. Definitely one of our favourites. We have just returned in June 2005. The MA-515 is being widened, which is great news. We had to stop twice for JCB's but only for a few seconds, so no real problemas.
Also we visited on a Monday, which wasn't a good day to visit Alpandeire as everywhere was closed.