Almargen

Almargen is a town with 2,153 inhabitants located northwest of the province, 96.4km from Malaga.  One of the north western towns of the province borders the provinces of Seville and Cadiz.

It is part of the county of Guadalteba together with the municipalities of Ardales, Campillos, Canete la Real, Carratraca, Cuevas del Becerro, Sierra de Mares and Teba.  Its inhabitants are predominantly engaged in agriculture and livestock.

The Almargen name is of Arab origin – the two meadows, and although there are no known historical facts of this period or any specific archaeological sites, there have been traces of pottery, usually mixed with other materials from the Romans along the valley formed by rivers and Corbones Almargen. Its meaning was closely related to an army camp or area devoted to the reorganization of troops during the reconquest.

Regarding the source data, the recent findings and studies at archaeological sites confirm the existence of man in these lands at least since the Copper Age. There are remnants of primitive people who inhabited the place (stores of grain in the area Almiron) and the Roman colonists (small house on the Teba Roman road).

A total of thirty recorded archaeological sites are in the local charter. Special mention is the idol Almargen fertility, a white marble statue from the year 3,000 BC approximately, which depicts a pregnant woman and a phallus. The popular belief of the idol is to facilitate pregnancy in a woman when she touches him.

The agricultural potential of the plain of Almargen and its strategic location has boosted the population of these lands since ancient times, as demonstrated by recent archaeological remains found in connection with the construction of the road between Almargen and Olvera.

We know of the presence of Neolithics but will with the arrival of the Phoenicians, the area saw its first moment of glory, crossing Almargen Tartessos, the road linking with Menace.  Later, the Romans left numerous traces in this territory, especially in river basins, Almargen Corbones and the northern municipality. Passed by here was a Roman road that ran off the road linking Antikaria XI (Antequera) with Acinipo (Ronda la Vieja).

Geography

Almargen has a landscape border between the Serrania de Ronda, Malaga and flat northern plains of Seville and Cadiz. Abruptly the mountainous landscape in Canete la Real, takes the road down the narrow valley of the Glen of the Saucedilla to reach the town at the gates of the Serrania.

The landscape contrasts sharply with that of the agricultural plain that extends around the village olive groves, corn and sunflower. Beyond the plain landscape are small rounded hills that mark the roof of the town just over a hundred yards above the village (510m) and in the hills of willows (620m). Trouser is at 612 m and Grand is at 649m. The latter borders the municipality.

Attractions

At the heart of the village’s main square, a fountain is very near the parish church of the Immaculate Conception, built in the sixteenth century and reformed in the late seventeenth century.

The church is on the main facade and crowned by a baroque belfry. Inside draws attention to the primitive loop Mudejar armor covering the nave and chancel. Archaeological sites are the Roman necropolis of the Sierra de Rebollo, the spring of Casablanca and the caves of St. Peter and Casablanca.  In the enclave known as Casa Blanca, Salado Creek has no wealth, but its waters are medicinal for their high level of iodine.

There you can see how the earth sprouts in spurts these miraculous waters, recommended especially for diseases related to the digestive system or with various degenerative diseases of the skeletal system. Already during the Roman domination these medicinal waters were exploited.

In the area they have found the remains of ancient thermal baths. The salinity of this water is lost when it reaches the river Almargen, which in turn feeds into the river from the sale, which finally leads to the swamp Guadalteba.  Another aspect to highlight this town is its swimming pool, which attracts many tourists because it has a peculiarity in that salt water is supplied by the Almargen River, also known as Salt River.

Fiestas

The procession of Our Lady of Fatima, which is held the last Sunday of May.
Fair, the first weekend of August.
Patterns St. Cosmas and St. Damian, held the last weekend of September.

Gastronomy

In Almargen, as in the rest of the county, the kitchen is determined primarily by product area: meat (farm or hunting), vegetables, oil, flour and wine.  Secondly, the seasons determine eating habits, not only by climate, but they add their own seasonal dishes, like mushrooms in autumn or weeds (thistles, fennel, asparagus and campion) in spring.
Typical dishes:

Porra: presents the particularity of being thicker than the rest of the gazpacho. It’s a simple gazpacho mixture without water and gazpacho. Serve with boiled eggs, ham and bacon.  Pastries: muffins for Easter  Asparagus, hunting products, mushrooms and asparagus soup.