www.property-in-the-sun.com

This pueblo is situated just off the A369 road. We had driven past the Benadalid a number of times on our way to Ronda but not turned off into the village. However one hot afternoon in June we headed purposely for Benadalid. The name always amuses us as it is one of the few we can actually pronounce properly 'Ben ah da lid', we're easily amused ... The church is very hard to spot from the road looking down onto the pueblo. For a minute I thought it didn't have a church ... but they all do. Church, Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) Plaza, Unicaja bank, Health Centre, Pharmacy and at least one shop that sells absolutely everything are standard for these pueblos. You can see the rather anonymous church in the picture below. Benadalid has a fairly well preserved castle, I would think it is one of the smallest castles ever built. It is a sort of bungalow castle with round turrets with a wooden door. We weren't sure if you could go inside but as there was nobody around I pulled back the huge rusty bolt and sneaked a look inside. The castle doubles as the town cemetery. Spanish cemeteries/ areas of remembrance are like multi storey white marble shrines always well tended and full of plastic flowers. We saw a small rose garden to the left of the castle in the picture above. I have always associated roses with English gardens and I am constantly surprised to see them thriving under the Spanish sun. There was another more picturesque rose garden further on into the village! Well done Benadalid! All the pueblos have beautifully tiled name plaques and town plans, often their are other scenes and texts at special places of interest. Benadalid seemed to have more than its fair share. Here are a few below. This is the Ayuntamiento (Town Hall) set in a lovely little tree lined plaza. Very clean as usual in these villages. The church tower. You can also see the little rose garden, the village telephone box and a fine example of Spanish wiring. The mains supply is incredible throughout Spain it is tacked along the outside of the houses and is extended from house to house as required. Often junction boxes and wiring hang detached in a mass of black spaghetti. How it works during wet weather I don't know. Here's a better shot of the rose garden and fountain. As you can see Benadalid is a pretty pueblo well worth a visit! We had the pleasure of meeting the only Brit's in Benadalid. Celia and Bert (sorry if the spelling is wrong). We saw them approaching struggling with two labradors on leads, one of their dogs was in heat and attracting all the local Spanish dogs, as we chatted for over twenty minutes about life in Benadalid, Bert constantly battled to prevent an unwanted Lab/Mutt cross.
This Scottish couple have lived in Benadalid for over a year. They are renting a village house but have bought land near the village and are waiting permission to build.
Life in Benadalid is very tranquil, the town has only one shop and the population of 300 is an over estimate.
A lot of people are away in Bilbao working. (There seems to be a strong Bilbao connection in the pueblos of the Genal as a lot of locals support Athletic Bilbao and the name crops up a lot).
It was lovely meeting Celia and Bert and we wish them well with their life in Benadalid. We met a lady called Poppy (in a lighting shop in Ronda Jan '05). She lives in the campo between Benadalid and Benalauría. She told us that Celia and Bert had returned home, their planning permissions still not decided. We hope they get it sorted out and can get their Andalucian dream back on track.

Friends, Stuart and Christine, have bought a house at the edge of Benadalid.

We've recently walked from Benadalid to Benalauría and back. A beautiful walk. We didn't meet anyone, it was so peaceful.
Highly Recommended.