This municipality’s territory, squarely within the Antequera lowlands, form a kind of corridor between Fuente de Piedra and Mollina that widens slightly on the border of the adjoining province of Seville.

To the north, the terrain is almost without contrasts of elevation; it is a gently rolling plain dominated by dry land farming, mainly grain fields and olive trees. In the southern part, the Humilladero mountain range, next to which the village lies, breaks the plain of the horizon with its 650 metres of altitude, and also adds a sizable area of pine woods that provide a certain amount of greenery to the setting.
The urban landscape is characteristic of an Andalusian locality founded during the Modern Age. Thus, its streets, far from being the torturous Moorish layout of other villages, are wide and often show the use of the surveyor’s line in their design. Despite this, the houses do display the centuries-old Andalusian whiteness, and there are a number of noteworthy buildings.

 

Some chroniclers date the founding of the village to before the conquest of Antequera by Christian troops, but the likeliest theory is that it originated in 1618, the date that is inscribed on the Cruz del Humilladero (El Humilladero cross; “Humilladero” means where one kneels or “humbles himself”) at the village entrance and from which it takes its name. There are those who respond to this theory by stating that this date is simply that of the inscription and not of the village’s foundation and that it probably sprang up in the fifteenth century around an estate called El Convento.
As far as the name of the village is concerned, according to tradition it comes from the oath performed by the Crown Prince Don Fernando of Antequera before conquering that city. The story says that Don Fernando met in this place with Per Afán de Ribera, who came from Seville and brought with him, besides his troops, the sword of Fernando III the Saint. The Crown Prince knelt, that is to say he “humbled himself”, before the sword, kissed it and swore that he would never return it to its sheath until he had conquered Antequera. In commemoration of this act, the Cruz del Humilladero was erected at the entrance of the village.

 

 

 

 

Outstandings Visits:
The church of Nuestra Señora del Rosario (Our Lady of the Rosary), the local patron saint, dates to 1861 or at least that is the date inscribed on its façade, which well may not be the date of its construction. The church has a Latin cross floor plan, and before the present bell tower was erected, its exterior had a belfry above the portico. The hermitage of El Apóstol Santiago (Saint James the Apostle) is in the outlying district of Los Carvajales and perhaps was the origin of that community. The village’s most representative monument, however, is the aforementioned Cruz del Humilladero. It must be considered of more historical significance-for the Crown Prince Don Fernando of Antequera’s oath- than artistic value, since the cross is extremely simple.
In contrast to the village’s modest monumental offer, the mountain setting is outstanding. A recreational area has been built there with all types of facilities for spending a day in the outdoors with all the comforts that are possible in thoroughly rural surroundings. The climb to the top of the Pollo peak, at 650 metres above sea level, will provide the visitor a broad view of the Antequera landscape and, due to its proximity, of the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra Natural Preserve.

How to Get There:
If coming from Málaga, take the A-45 (N-331) expressway to the outskirts of Antequera and there connect with the A-92 in the direction of Seville, which will take you to an intersection where two roads begin. One of these, the A-6211, leads straight to Humilladero.

Interesting Facts:
Surface Area: 34.2 square kilometres
Population: almost 3,000
What the natives are called: Humilladerenses or Gatos
Monuments: the Virgen del Rosario parish church, Cruz del Humilladero (El Humilladero cross)
Geographical Location: in the northern part of the Antequera province on the border of the province of Seville and 78 kilometres from the city of Málaga. The village is at an altitude of 450 metres. The area records an average rainfall of 480 litres per square metre and the annual average temperature is 15.5º C.
Tourist Information: Town Hall, Avenida del Emigrante, 1 (29531). Telephone: 952 737 023; Fax: 952 737 292