We go on an excursion of about seven hours, in a small group in a van driven by a tour guide. Travel Factory Andalusia. From Frigiliana it is about 20 minutes along a dirt road that becomes increasingly narrow and curvy, as if the town did not want to be seen, or as a reward for those of us who venture to visit that village that seems buried in the mountain.
As soon as we arrive at the town, founded in the 17th century, we lose the cell phone signal and take a trip back in time: few people, only two main streets, lovingly decorated houses, corners full of flowers and an imposing mountain landscape that surrounds this valley within the national park made up of the Tejeda, Almijara and Alhama mountain ranges.
Love at first sight. El Acebuchal is one of those places that stays beating in your memory.
We have time to delve into data about many of the corners of this white town that is a miniature of Nerja or Frigiliana, but with the blessing of silence. It is a quiet, personalized visit, with the advantage of a guide who is passionate about the history of Andalusia, and who also tells us myths and village gossip that contribute so much identity to the local story.
The guide explains that El Acebuchal belongs to the Cómpeta municipality and represents the Spain of the empty towns after the Civil War (1936-39). It owes its name to the wild olive trees that abound in the area, and for many years it was a crossing point for muleteers between Malaga and Granada. But the war changed the routine of a remote town destined to appear in the history books.
Leaving the birthplace
Between 1948 and 1949, the inhabitants of the town, about 200 people, suffered the effects of the postwar period and Francoism. Because they were supporters of the Republicans, they were forced to abandon their homes due to the political repression of Francisco Franco.
The maquis, who were the guerrillas who hid in the mountains to confront the dictatorship, received help and refuge in the town. The regime, in view of the threat posed to the village, was forceful in its strategy to sow fear and expel the inhabitants: it ordered the Civil Guard to arrest and execute three of the guerrillas’ relatives. Since then, the town was forgotten.
Those who wish to delve deeper into the topic can read the book History of the maquis: between two firesby David Baird, published by Editorial Almuzara.
Start again
The year 1998 was the turning point in which this ghost town became a charming site of tourist interest. The marriage of Virtudes Sánchez (whose father was born in the town), and Antonio García (who was a baby when the Francoists killed his father), put all their energy into giving life again to that forgotten area, without health services. electricity or water. Despite the skepticism of those who saw them as a pair of crazy people, they insisted with patience and sacrifice to reconstruct a personal and at the same time collective history.
With the anticipation of incipient rural tourism in the late 90s, the couple bought houses in ruins and moved to a town in precarious conditions, but with a lot of sentimental value. They were determined to recover the history that had been taken from their families.
It has not been easy, but they managed to rescue the land of their ancestors from the dust. In 2003 they brought electricity to the town. In 2005 the restaurant was inaugurated, where they offer, such as indica the Repsol Guide, tajine lamb, wild boar with chocolate and strudel of apple for dessert, among other dishes, in addition to the famous bread baked on the day. And, so that the religious component is not lacking, in 2007 the San Antonio Chapel was opened.
Entrance to Bar El Acebuchal, the only restaurant in town. Grethel Delgado /DLA
Grethel Delgado /DLA
“The lost village of Malaga”
This is also known as this gem between mountains that, in addition to its architectural and natural beauty, has the charm of the recovery of historical memory.
Now about 10 people live there full time, and then there is the variable flow of tourists who stay for several days in this peculiar rural destination of about 30 houses. Those who vacation in El Acebuchal enjoy the hiking options available, where the maquis route stands out.
Casa Antonio, and Ratoncito Perez, in the town of El Acebuchal. Grethel Delgado /DLA
Grethel Delgado /DLA
One of the houses has a curious fact. In one corner of the house there is a drawing of the famous Ratoncito Pérez, that character to whom children make wishes after leaving their baby tooth under the pillow. Antonio had it drawn for one of his granddaughters, a lover of the peculiar mouse that fulfills dreams.
The only unrepaired house stands out at the entrance to the village. It has been abandoned for 75 years and, like a poetic nod from nature, an olive tree has grown inside.
An olive tree has grown in the old house in El Acebuchal. Grethel Delgado /DLA
Grethel Delgado /DLA
A spirit in El Acebuchal?
Since I want to know more, the guide shares a link with me World, where I find a story that borders on magical realism, but that is still charming as it enriches the myths that surround a town as special as this one. It is said that in the 1930s there lived in El Acebuchal a young woman, orphaned by her father and mother, who died alone, missing the family she had had.
“She arrived at night so that no one would see her. “She opened the door to her little house and said: mom, dad, I’m here,” says Enrique Vázquez. Five years after her burial, they needed to remove her body for another deceased and the undertaker was surprised to see it intact. They thought it was a miracle and a priest asked to take it in a wooden box to a Carmelite convent.
The mule driver available for said assignment was Manuel, curiously the deceased’s first cousin. He did not know the contents of the box that he had been instructed to take to the convent, and when he was walking with a mule halfway down the road he heard a young woman say to him: “Arrea, Manuel, we are going to get wet.” He didn’t know where that mysterious voice came from, but after a while a storm broke out. Upon arriving at the convent he asked the nuns to see the contents of the box and he was stunned to see the girl. It is said, although no documents have been found to prove it, that the young woman spent a long time in the convent and that they made her a saint.
Ghost stories aside, it is very easy to notice the enigmatic force of this small village. Here the walls speak, they tell a story of pain and reconstruction, and although the new houses are painted with care, many of them were made from the rubble of the old homes in the town. So they hold an essence as powerful as those eyes that look at us from the past in the black and white photos of the El Acebuchal bar.
