The municipality of Yunquera receives the full benefit of the extraordinary scenery and ecology of the Sierra de las Nieves mountain range. It not only makes up a part of what is, strictly speaking, the Sierra de la Nieves Nature Park but also of its surroundings, which have been declared a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Due to the strict rules that govern any activity performed in this territory after this international designation, a traveller here enters one of the most scenic and well-protected areas in the province of Málaga.

Even outside the boundaries of the Nature Park the lands of Yunquera offer the traveller a number of places where the combination of hills and valleys, and the inescapable presence of the Spanish fir as the main species of tree, create astonishingly beautiful sites such as can be seen in the vicinity of the Nuestra Señora de las Nieves convent ruins on the border of the municipality of El Burgo. Simply listing all the “unique places” to be found within the boundaries of this municipality would be just as tedious as speaking insistently of the powerful attraction wielded by a territory that has received almost all the blessings of nature. The visitor will realise all this for himself when he begins to get close to Yunquera.
The place occupied by the village is one of the passes that allow the eastern mountains of the Ronda highlands to be crossed with relative ease. Taking into account also the abundant water that flows from springs in the mountains, it is reasonable to presume that the area was inhabited since the Prehistoric period. It would not be until the arrival of the Romans, however, that there was a stable settlement, and even then, it was composed of widely scattered farmhouses and leisure villas.

Every indication is that Yunquera never achieved a status worthy of being called a Roman city, but rather was a community that was cut off from the commercial and political life of that era. There is no Roman highway, an indispensable feature for holding the Empire together, that passes through the area, nor are there archaeological sites showing the existence of any kind of noteworthy construction other than the two remaining bridges on the road to Ronda. It is known, however, that the Romans called the place Juncaria, which means something like, “meadow of rushes”.
The Arabs, with their proverbial reverence for water, learned how to derive maximum benefit from the abundant flow from the mountain springs. For this purpose, they designed a series of gardens that were easily irrigated by an ingenious conduction system. There has been no basic change in this agricultural tradition, which can now be seen in areas devoted to cultivation in the valleys of the Rivers Grande and Jorox. The tablelands, meanwhile, are dominated by olive groves.
Although there are traces of an earlier Arabic settlement, modern Yunquera was formed after the Christian conquest in 1485, more precisely when these lands were repopulated by people who had come from Estepa.

 

 

 

Outstandings Visits:
Inside the village, which still preserves part of its medieval street layout, is the Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación parish church, which is considered the church with the largest dimensions in the Sierra de las Nieves. It was erected in 1505 but most of the masonry framework that has been preserved is from the seventeenth century. It has three naves separated by cruciform pillars that support semicircular arches. The vaulted transept is crowned by a small dome with a number of relief decorations.
The Cruz del Pobre (Poor Man’s Cross) hermitage stands next to the village cemetery. The construction, which was completed in 1866, reminds one of popular architecture. Its floor plan and roof are hexagonal. An image of Cristo de la Cruz del Pobre (Christ of the Poor Man’s Cross), who is much revered by the Yunqueranos, overlooks the interior.
Half a kilometre from the village in the direction of El Burgo is the Torre Vigía (Watchtower), which is now the information centre of the Sierra de las Nieves Nature Park. It was built in the sixteenth century and is known in Yunquera as “El Castillo” (The Castle).

 

The structure is in the shape of a truncated cone, virtually a cylinder, and is covered by a roof in the shape of a partial sphere. The openings in its masonry walls are extremely flared, as this design was better for defensive purposes.
The Nuestra Señora de Porticate hermitage is a little farther from the village, about five kilometres. It was built in the eighteenth century but was remodelled in 1929. Its construction is very simple, with a rectangular floor plan and a wooden gable roof frame. Built into one of its walls is a small octagonal “camarín” with decorated gesso artwork on its edges. The small structure is crowned by a painted dome of the early nineteenth century Rococo style.

 

 

Also rather distant from the village (about four kilometres) is the Arabic watchtower called the Torrecilla, which stands 1,700 metres from the right side of the road that goes to Ronda. It has a circular base and is in the shape of a cylinder, and still preserves parts of its rendering. It is 5.2 metres in diameter and stands 11 metres tall. Its construction is solid up to six metres above the ground, and the living quarters began at that level.

How to Get There:
The most advisable route to Yunquera starts at the city of Málaga. Take the A-357 highway towards Campillos. After about 14 kilometres, you will get to Cártama, and immediately after that village, you must take the A-355 to Coín. From that locality, you must continue by way of the A-366 to Alozaina. (This is the same road as the A-355 but this stretch has a different name.) At Alozaina, continue on the same road to Yunquera.

Interesting Facts:
Surface Area: 55 square kilometres
Population: about 3,300
What the natives are called: Yunqueranos
Monuments: the Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación church, Cruz del Pobre hermitage, Torre Vigía (Watch Tower), Nuestra Señora de Porticate hermitage, the Torrecilla watchtower and the Sierra de las Nieves mountain range
Geographical Location: in the western part of the Guadalhorce valley region, bordering on the Ronda region and in the heart of the Sierra de las Nieves mountain range. The village is 680 metres above sea level and is 36 kilometres from Ronda and 63 from the city of Málaga. Average rainfall in the area is 910 litres per square metre and the average annual temperature is 16.4º C.
Tourist Information: Town Hall, Plaza de la Constitución, 13 (29410). Telephone: 952 48 28 21; Fax: 952 482 905. Tourist Office, Calle del Pozo, 17. Telephone: 952 482 609