Andalucía - Discover Spain: Experience the Best of Spain - page 517

The village of El Rocío overlooks a section of the Doñana marismas at the park's
northwestern corner. The village's sandy streets bear as many hoofprints as tyre
marks, and they are lined with rows of verandah-ed buildings that are empty most
of the time. But this is no ghost town: most of the houses belong to the 90-odd her-
mandades of pilgrim-revellers and their families, who converge on El Rocío every
year in the extraordinary Romería del Rocío.

Arcos de la Frontera
POP 29,900 / ELEV 185M
Choosing your favourite pueblo blanco is like choosing your favourite Beatles al-
bum: they're all so damned good, it's hard to make a definitive decision. Pressured
for an answer many people single out Arcos, a larger-than-average white town thrill-
ingly sited on a high, unassailable ridge with sheer precipices plummeting away on
both sides. With the Sierra de Grazalema as a distant backdrop, Arcos possesses
all the classic white-town calling cards: spectacular location, soporific old town,
fancy parador and volatile frontier history.

Sights

PLAZA DEL CABILDO
The old town captures multiple historical eras evoking the ebb and flow of the once-
disputed Christian-Moorish frontier. Plaza del Cabildo is the centre of this quarter.
Close your eyes to the modern car park and focus instead on the fine surrounding
buildings (all old) and a vertiginous mirador (lookout) with views over Río
Guadalete. The 11th-century Castillo de los Duques is firmly closed to the public,
but its outer walls frame classic Arcos views. On the plaza's northern side is the
Gothic-cum-baroque Basíllica-Parroquia de Santa María , sporting beautiful stone
choir stalls and Isabelline ceiling tracery. On the eastern side, the Parador Casa
del Corregidor hotel is a reconstruction of a 16th-century magistrate's house.

Square

Tours
One-hour guided tours of the old town's monuments and pretty patios start from the
tourist office at 11am Monday to Friday.