Ronda Will Fully Open Its Own 'King's Path' in 2025

For now, visitors can descend to the foot of the monumental New Bridge in this charming interior of Málaga. The intimacy of its gorge is a more secluded area that gradually reveals itself.

The Tajo of Ronda is a rare geological coincidence, almost difficult to comprehend. It is a gorge roughly as long as it is deep. Its walls rise a hundred meters and are sometimes perfectly vertical and smooth, while at other times they appear cracked, with nooks, shaded areas, and crumbling rocks that seem about to collapse. Above this rocky chaos, appears the Mr. Hyde of the Tajo: a completely flat, sunny, and panoramic plateau. At first glance, it is hard to understand how gravity did not lead the Guadalevín River down simpler paths, as it has carved out a canyon splitting the high plateau in two.

The natural lookout point where Ronda sits gives this Málaga pearl an incredible collection of viewpoints, with fantastic views of the Tajo itself and the Grazalema and Sierra de las Nieves mountains. Many viewpoints are located in fabulous gardens like the Gardens of the Alameda del Tajo, the Gardens of Cuenca, or the Paseo de Kazunori Yamauchi, next to the Parador, all in the new part of Ronda. More intimate and romantic ones can be found in the old town, such as the one at the Mondragón Palace or the Don Bosco Museum House.

At the western end of the old town of Ronda, next to the Viewpoint of Plaza de María Auxiliadora, the Door of the Mills is a remnant of the Arab wall through which access was granted to the old flour mills that harnessed the water power of the channeled Guadalevín. For some time now, the door has mainly become the path tourists take to approach the Viewpoint of the New Bridge. From here, one gets the best panoramas of this colossal structure, an icon of Ronda, which are better viewed in the afternoon if one wants to avoid backlighting.

As of April 11, 2024, next to the popular viewpoint, is the access point to the latest major attraction in Ronda's tourist circuit, one that will allow us to traverse the Tajo through its depths, practically at water level, thanks to suspended walkways above the water. This is the project dubbed the Tajo Gorge, which for now has only opened its first part, meaning the approach to those future walkways. As of today, it descends to the foot of the monumental New Bridge by a path protected with metal nets to safeguard us from potential landslides. Access requires a ticket of €5, and a helmet provided at the entrance must be worn.

Until the attraction opens fully (something expected to happen in 2025), the Tajo Gorge trail ends right at the foot of the New Bridge, in front of the horse-tail of the Guadalevín River. The hydronym means in Arabic 'river of milk,' perhaps due to the white color it takes on in its waterfalls. From here, we can see the ancient channels that diverted water to the mills, most of which are now in ruins. But above all, we can admire a colossal work that seems to merge with the gorge, as if it were a part of it.

The New Bridge of Ronda stands 98 meters tall, with a main arch of 48 m that made it, during the fifty years following its completion, the bridge with the highest span in the world. Built between 1759 and 1793, over 34 years, it was chosen due to a very conservative architectural solution, which some specialists criticize as excessive in material usage. However, it could not collapse again, as had happened with the previous bridge of 1735, which fell five years after its inauguration, causing a catastrophe. Its solid construction gives the impression from a distance that it is an arch of rock sculpted by erosion, becoming one with the geology of the Tajo.

Not many know this, but there is currently a small window to see the Tajo of Ronda from below. Hidden in the depths of the gorge, 'The Mine' is a monument of hydraulic engineering from the Nasrid period that served to provide water to the city thanks to a large waterwheel. To access it, one must look for signs for the Palace of the Moorish King in the old town. This is a residence from the early 20th century in the Neo-Mudéjar style that cannot be visited, although its Forestier Gardens, some of the most beautiful in Ronda, are accessible. These were the first work on Spanish soil by the famous French landscaper Jean Nicolas Forestier, completed in 1912.

This garden, a crossroad between Hispanic-Muslim and French styles, serves as the access point to the famous 14th-century Mine, built utilizing one of the sandstone cracks in the Tajo. To reach it, one must descend 230 stairs through a sort of vertical hallway, where several rooms open up, such as the large Waterwheel Hall, or the most famous of them all, the Hall of Secrets, featuring a hemispherical dome giving it acoustics in which secrets cannot be kept.

A metal platform nearly at the level of the Guadalevín River provides a unique perspective of the Tajo at its most picturesque geological point. A sign indicates 'Breached entrance of the Castilian troops plastered in the 16th century.' Reading it makes sense of those signs above that stated 'A crack that toppled a Kingdom,' for it was through The Mine that the Christians decided to attack Ronda back in May 1485. It was a very clever move that avoided an assault on a heavily fortified city, focusing efforts instead on cutting off the water supply. Within a few days, the city surrendered, and indeed the Nasrid Kingdom was left to agonize.