Charming Cazorla, A Small Town In Spain

As culturally rich, architecturally interesting and historically awe-inspiring as European cities can be, sometimes you crave something smaller, more intimate, and dare I say the “a” word: genuinely authentic.

Nestled in the hills of Jaen Province, Cazorla is a step back in time

After an excellent few weeks indulging in the delights of Madrid, Barcelona and Granada, we decided to take a break from the tourist trail to explore small town Spain, hoping to catch a less touristic, more local, intimate glimpse of Spanish life. Using the finger on the map approach, we settled on the town of Cazorla, population 8,250, in the Jaen province, where more than 10% of the world’s olive oil is produced. Popular with locals but relatively unknown to the outside world.

Upon entering our hotel, we were warmly greeted in Spanish by Pedro the 60-something year old owner, who took great pride in the budget family operation he’d been running for 30 years. Given we have visited some dodgy destinations where safety can be an issue, my husband enquired as part of our round the world protocol whether it was safe to walk around at night. Pedro was initially baffled, as if he’d never been asked the question in his life. Once he understood our strange paranoid question, he explained that it was segurisimo! (very safe) here in Cazorla.

The plaza of Cazorla is spacious and relaxing

By late afternoon, after strolling around the charming town - through beautiful plazas, sweet little laneways, and the main castle on the hill, we were suddenly starving and went in search of food. We quickly discovered that a) pretty much no one in Cazorla spoke English, and b) Siesta in Cazorla is serious business; don’t expect to buy anything between 12.30pm-5pm. Although a number of restaurants were open, no more food was being served until dinnertime, which wasn’t until 8.30pm.

We started to get desperate but luckily, we convinced a kindly restaurant owner to feed us and enjoyed a pleasant meal in one of the plazas near the castle. Observing the local town folk, we were struck by how many elderly residents we saw strolling around. Something like 75% of the population appeared to fall into the pensioner category which is a sad reflection of the rapid urbanisation Spain is undergoing and the corresponding decline of its small villages. After being around backpackers and young trendy Spaniards, we felt like we’d landed on the set of Cocoon, but there was a quiet dignity and welcoming air about the residents that was both charming and refreshing.

A farmers cottage hugs the plateau above Cazorla

We began our second day with a simple but tasty breakfast of juice and coffee, toasted fresh bread with delectable local olive oil, a generous platter of prosciutto, salamis and cheese, and fresh melon, all compliments of our new friend Pedro. We were the youngest couple by at least 30 years, but enjoyed the lively, local environment.

 After grabbing some pastries and bread from our local panaderia (much to the amusement of the local ladies), we decided to explore the surrounding mountains on a vaguely marked trail. There was a lot of uphill action but we were rewarded with simple, stunning countryside and mountain ranges, and had a great time hiking in the sun. We reached a plateau, with an old stone building hugging the ridge. The views were glorious and we just sat back took it all in. We continued up the mountains over the next few hours, encountering soaring eagles, pristine churches and goats making noises straight out of Jurassic Park. It was a great hike and we were wasted by the time we got home.

Lunch time is a community affair

After a rest, we headed out to a delightful recommended restaurant, dined on a fairly affordable, scrumptious three course meal with wine, and rocked out to what must have been ‘The Greatest Love Songs of all Time Collection’, featuring lots of 80’s soft rock, including the theme from Top Gun and Lady in Red- we were in karaoke heaven.

Upon discovering the next day that it was impossible to get any kind of insurance for a rental car to explore the nearby national park, we elected to kick around town and go for a swim and chill out (a friend’s uninsured 30,000 euro crash in Greece has made us more cautious on that front). We quickly began to appreciate just how quaint and charming small town life can be (at least in small doses). It was only our second full day and we were suddenly recognising and being recognised by a number of town folk. The old man in red baseball cap who always had a big toothless grin and seemed to enjoy giving random youths nookies; a lady in her 90s who gave us the evil eye at a tapas bar, only to discover in the daylight that she in fact just had a really lazy eye; owners of the restaurants we had dined in waving and greeting us; Pedro giving us hearty greetings around town.

A lone Granny makes her way home for a siesta

We also loved discovering that there were what appeared to be rival gangs of the grannies (who greatly outnumbered the men), who had their separate ‘hoods’ in different parts of town, and would hang out talking for hours and closely monitoring the comings and goings in their respective territories. Needless to say, my husband Leon was a big hit around town, getting checked out by the grannies as if he were Brad Pitt in the flesh. As even he admitted, they clearly didn’t see many youngish men in these parts.

The next day we woke up early to get the 7.15am bus to the national park. It was incredible to see how completely empty the dark town was at 7am. You’d have thought it was 4am, with only a few workmen smoking and having coffee at the cafes. We were completely puzzled by the bus service which runs daily once early in the morning to the base of the park an hour away and returns at 5.15pm. Who takes it? Our bus eventually turned up, picked up one other local, and headed off into the darkness. As it happened, the bus was also the local school bus which made us both very glad that our school days are long behind us.

Take one of the many walks around Cazorla and enjoy the vistas!

It was a simple but pleasant hike that got better as we went along. We met two local guys who were fascinated as to why we came to visit Cazorla given no one speaks English there. He was impressed that we wanted to take a break from the tourist path and gave us some useful info about the trail (the 12ks mentioned in the book was in fact one-way, not return). We proceeded for a few hours before enjoying lunch in a meadow, and returned on a blissfully quiet, child-free bus.

All in all, we saw no magnificent palaces or castles, no museums, no grand parks or squares, and no trendy tapas scenes or flamenco shows. But we left Cazorla feeling we had stumbled upon something richer, truer and in some ways, more delightful in its simplistic pleasures, making it one of our favourite towns in Spain. There is nothing like immersing yourself in a small, charming community. So take a break from sight-seeing on the tourist trail, slow down and take it all in. You won’t be disappointed.

Tip for visiting small towns and surrounding attractions:

Simple, quite and uncomplicated; life in rural Spain

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