Castellar de la Frontera is a hilltop village contained entirely within the walls of a medieval fortress, around twenty minutes inland from Sotogrande through cork oak forest. It sits inside the Parque Natural de Los Alcornocales, above a reservoir formed by the Guadarranque river, and it is the most striking place within easy reach of the coast. The complication, and the interest, is that there are effectively two Castellars.
The fortress village
The castle was built in the thirteenth century and became important during the struggle between Christians and Muslims for control of the Strait, forming part of the defensive system of the Kingdom of Granada. The fortress is remarkably well preserved and holds an entire village inside its walls. This was frontier territory, fought over repeatedly until the Catholic Monarchs finally took the village in the fifteenth century.
The view is the reason most people make the drive. From the castle you can pick out the coast, Sotogrande, the bay of Algeciras and Gibraltar beyond it, with Morocco across the water and the mountains of Grazalema to the north. At the end of one of the narrow streets is a viewpoint known as the Balcón de los Amorosos, looking out over the Guadarranque reservoir.
Walking the whole of the walled village takes very little time, which is part of its appeal.
A village emptied, then filled again
In 1968 the Colonization Institute expropriated 700 hectares from La Almoraima, held by the ducal house of Medinaceli, in order to build a new village. The new town went up several kilometres away in a more convenient position beside the road and the Almoraima railway station, and was inaugurated in 1971. The residents of the old mountain village were glad to move, since the houses up there lacked every modern convenience. The relocation was only made possible by the construction of the reservoir during the 1960s.
What happened next was not planned. With the old town emptied, it became a hippy colony, and bohemian residents live there still. The derelict houses drew a number of Germans, who took over the empty properties and built temporary dwellings outside the walls, and that European community left a lasting mark, which is why the whitewashed lanes inside the fortress are now lined with craft, music and art shops.
The ownership history took an unusual turn in the meantime. In 1973 the Rumasa group acquired the old village, the convent and the La Almoraima lands. The Spanish government expropriated Castellar in 1983 and declared it a historical and artistic monument. The fortress was by then neglected and abandoned, and the town hall put money into restoring the castle structure. A community of artists and preservationists did much of the work of rescuing the crumbling village, and local associations now run guided tours and cultural events there.
Castellar Nuevo
The new village is a deliberate contrast: well-appointed modern houses, wide streets and avenues, open green space, and striking white buildings set against well-kept gardens. Plaza de Andalucía at its centre has planted areas, fountains, sculptures and a church bell tower, and the whole thing is a period piece of Spanish state planning that is more interesting than it first appears. The municipality has a population of just under three thousand.
La Almoraima
The first documented settlement at Almoraima was a Muslim watchtower built to pass on warnings of invasion, and the convent of San Miguel de la Almoraima followed in 1603. Unlike the other towers along this frontier, which fell into ruin, this one survived because a Guardia Civil barracks was built beside it in the nineteenth century and the tower was put to use as a prison. The converted sixteenth century convent now operates as a hotel and restaurant about a kilometre from Castellar Nuevo, serving Andalusian cooking with valley views from the tower terrace.
The cork oaks
Much of the municipality falls within Los Alcornocales natural park, a vast protected area of cork oak, popular for walking and hunting, where the cork harvest remains a real source of local income. Driving up from the coast in early summer you will pass trees stripped to bare orange trunk, which is the harvest in progress rather than damage.
Who it suits
Castellar suits anyone who wants a half day away from the coast with a genuine destination at the end of it. The drive alone justifies the trip, and the old village rewards an hour of aimless walking rather than any particular itinerary. Go for the late afternoon light if you can, and treat the new village as a curiosity worth ten minutes rather than a stop in its own right.