Andalusia, the sunny soul of Spain

Ronda stands on its rocky promontory between Malaga and Seville, in a landscape sculpted by dizzying gorges and breathtaking views. Celts, Phoenicians, Romans, Arabs, and Catholic Monarchs have left it a cultural heritage of great richness, mostly concentrated in the old town. Ronda is a very pretty stop on the tourist route of los Pueblos blancos, the white villages. Founded 3,000 years ago by the Phoenicians, the peninsula of Cadiz is the oldest city in the West. It enjoys a pleasant atmosphere with its pedestrian medieval center, its palaces, fountains, and numerous orange trees. The grand Teatro Falla, the Cathedral of Cadiz, and the Santo Domingo Church offer interesting visits between two sea baths on one of the city's four large beaches. At nightfall, Flamenco shows are improvised in the many tapas bars, on the beaches or in the squares. Listed as a UNESCO heritage site, Ubeda is rich in Renaissance-style buildings that can be admired on the Plaza Vázquez de Molina where most of the buildings were constructed between 1530 and 1580. Churches, palaces, and manor houses add a little more magic to the ensemble, set in the heart of vast olive groves. It is Spain's highest massif and Europe's highest after the Alps. It snows there from November and it hosts ski resorts. You can ski down the slopes and reach the Andalusian Mediterranean coast in about an hour if you feel like sunbathing.