Carratraca, Malaga tourist information
Villages of Malaga province and Andalucia, Spain travel information

Carratraca Malaga

A village between the Serrania de Ronda and Antequera regions which since time immemorial has been considered a gateway to the Guadalhorce valley.

The village, of Arabic origin, grew in the 19th century as a result of the presence of sulphorous waters here, whose curative properties had been discovered already by the Romans. In the mid-1900s, an attractive neoclassical spa was built, which today is still visited in large numbers by sufferers of a variety of aliments.

Another building of interest is the Town Hall, formerly the residence of Doña Trinidad Grund.

History

Within the village's municipal boundaries, in a chasm forty metres deep in the Sierra de Alcaparain, schematic paintings and archaeological remains from the Eneolithic period were found. Human presence in the area since the beginning of prehistory is also evident in the neighbouring village of Ardales where Cueva de Doña Trinidad Grund cave features cave paintings of animals -goats, horses and stags- pertaining to the Upper Palaeolithic period (Solutrean and Magdalenian eras, 18.000 - 14.000 B.C.).

The springs of sulphorous waters which flow in Carratraca were used by the Romans, as witnessed by the site of La Glorieta, where copper and silver coins bearing the images of several Roman emperors have been discovered.

Though there was a settlement here during the Moslem occupation of Spain, the present-day village dates back to the 19th century and appeared as a result of successive extensions to a farm called Aguas Hediondas, the site of a spa and a chapel to Our Lady built in the 18th century.

Tourist information about Carratraca:

Town council: Avda. Andalucía, 52.
Phone: +34 952 458 016
Official website: Ayuntamiento de Carratraca

Malaga to Carratraca:

Carratraca is 50 km away from Malaga airport (about 50 minutes by car). Find the cheapest car hire Malaga deals and see how to get from Malaga airport to Carratraca.