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We have built a Cortijo (country house) very typical of this Andalucian province, the idea is a group of houses alongside a big patio where we have built a long thatched car park, to shelter the cars from the summer heat.
We have six cottages to hire. There are 3 with two bedrooms and 3 with one bedroom (2 of these are studios). Each bedroom has its own bathroom, and all the bedrooms have air/conditioning hot and cold. Each cottage have one lounge/dining room and kitchenette, equipped with gas/burning kitchen, oven, refrigerator, complete cooking utensils and also all the necessary crockery and cutlery required. All the sitting rooms have a wood/burning stove or fireplace.
We also have a big reception/get together room/ for the use of our guests, with fireplace and TV and a few interesting books relating to this Area, so that our guests may get more detailed information.
There is a swimming pool 6x12 meters, and adjoining it a nice thatched pavilion , and three round thatched umbrellas around the pool.
Previously to Zalamea we had Rural houses in Asturias (Northern Spain) and Algarve(Southern Portugal). The Algarve we sold and decided to look for a nice suitable place in Andalucia, which could be similar in habitat to Asturias, its not exactly the same but the mountains are quite similar and the countryside look alike. The weather naturally is not the same, here we have a very long summer from April to October. Our grounds are roughly 10 acres large with oak trees and planted, we have around 350 fruit trees , lots of water (5 wells) a horse paddock and stables.
We are bordering the ‘Romerito’ where every year people celebrate the second sunday in May, one Romeria(pilgrimage) which is already very well known all round the countryside. On friday the Virgin’ La Pastora’ of our village is taken in procession and on Monday is taken back to the village church. Everybody accompanies this procession dressed up, the women in Rociero dresses and the men in the local ‘traje corto’ Andalucian traditional men’s suite, on horseback, two and four wheel horse/wagons. People dance, eat and drink at the sound of the local flute and drum, the way only the Andalucians know how to do and it sounds something like magic and marvelous.
Zalamea la Real is 6 kms. From Riotinto the heart of the mining valley. Has a wonderful and very interesting mining museum where one can learn about the mine that dates back 5000 years. There is also a train drive that takes you through the different parts of the old mines, where the deteriorated mine landscapes mix with the planted pine forests, bordering the valley of river tinto with its red color so characteristic, due to its natural contamination. The history of these people, their villages, lives and culture that during 80 years lived with the English, change completely the life of the area. They built railway lines , more or less 300 kms. , 84 Kms to the Port in Huelva and the rest for the development , the extraction of the mineral, and transportation of workers and all the local people.These railway paths have all been cleared of railway tracks after the mines had been closed down and have now been transformed into very good paths for hiking, bicycle riding and horse/riding, through a lot of places in the countryside which is another wonderful way of seeing the country.
The colouring of the ground extracted are so fascinating that we decided to paint all our cottages in some of these colours, and also naming them after the other local villages such as : Marigenta, Menbrillo, Zufre, Nerva, Atalaya Zarandas y Tharsis.
In Riotinto there is also a very interesting rustic Golf Course, this is apparently the oldest Golf Course in Spain, as it was started by the English people whilst they owned the mines, the English bought these mines from the Spanish Govt. at the end of the 18th century.
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