Interesting clouds in the sky west of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Where are Kevin and Ruth now? Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

Where are Kevin and Ruth going next? Cancun, Mexico on November 1st.

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

The White Towns of Andalusia, Spain

This past winter while we were RVing in Spain we came across many towns and villages that were all painted white, they are known as "White Towns". These towns are mostly found in the region of Andalusia in the southern portion of Spain and they are usually found in the mountains.

I can't really find any conclusive reason as to why they are painted white, I have seen reference to the white wash that they use as having antibacterial properties to it, so perhaps it is to stop the growth of mold or mildew on the outsides of the buildings. There is talk that when the Christian uprising began, the Moors left their homes and moved to the mountains where they built fortress like walls and painted the houses within white but this theory isn't conclusive. Another theory, is that the limestone used had a chemical property causing them to turn white. Whatever the reason is or was, most now have a political mandate to remain painted white as a tourist attraction, and we have to say it works because it is so inviting to see these white towns way up on a hill in the distance.

We were lucky to have been able to visit many of these towns over a two month period and each and every one of them were different.

One of the first ones that we came across was Zuheros.

Zuheros

This was our first view of the town from the road. After seeing it we knew we had to go and visit it.

Ruth high on a hiking trail looking back at Zuheros.

Casares

Most of these "White Towns" have wonderful cobbled and narrow streets.

The town of Vejer de la Frontera high on the hill.


Beautiful fountain in the central plaza

Love the way they like to add a "ping" of colour

Zahara de la Sierra

Narrow cobbled street in Zahara de la Sierra

Setenil de las Bodegas

This town is built right into the rocks, they call them cave houses.

Even the road goes under the rocks.

Olvera

There are just too many to show you but you get the idea.

So if you are ever in the southern part of Spain, make sure you get out there and find some of these beautiful towns, you won't regret it, we promise you!

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12 comments:

  1. I see pictures of white towns in Greece too and other European areas. Very beautiful and love the cobble streets...very clean towns.

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    1. Yes, I have seen lots of pictures of Greece and see white towns there as well, it seems like they add lots of blue in there as a nice accent colour.

      We did notice that the towns we visited were very clean. They were fun to wander around, especially on the narrow streets.

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  2. These white towns are so charming to me! Thank you for sharing. I had no idea you'd managed to see so many!

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    1. We loved visiting these white towns. Believe it or not, we saw way more than these! There were just too many pictures so we just wanted to show you some of the most interesting and prettiest ones.

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  3. An interesting aspect to those towns (perhaps not limited to the white towns) is that they have such sharp borders. There's no sprawl there, as there is in our towns.

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    1. You are correct Creigh and I think some of that is do to the fact that many are built behind fortified walls. Almost all of them have or had a castle within their towns at one time or another.

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  4. I checked temperatures in those towns today and they ranged from 33C to 39C. That would be a good reason to paint everthing white to reflect the heat. Maybe.

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    1. I meant to mention that as another theory as well, thank you for pointing it out. However there were other communities in the region that weren't all painted white, so again not sure if that would be the reason or not. We really think that it is done now as a tourist draw. It sure is pretty to see many of these white towns from a distance as they "dot" the mountain side.

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  5. Whatever the reason they are white, I hope they keep up the tradtion!

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  6. Good timing for your posting. The New York Times just had this article today on Vejer de la Frontera and a few other places I know you visited last winter. Check it out: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/travel/spain-sherry-portugal-triangle-budget-travel.html?mwrsm=Email

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    1. Thanks Bonnie and Dave! Had a quick look at it and we were in several of the places that he talked about. Vejer de lat Frontera was a wonderful town and I am not sure if we saw any other non-European tourists there, it is still not well known to most tourists.

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