Gaucín () is a town and municipality located in the mountains of

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a "historical nationality". The t ...

in the province of Málaga in southern

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. It is inland from

Marbella Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the reg ...

Puerto Banús Puerto José Banús, more commonly known simply as Puerto Banús, is a marina located in the area of Nueva Andalucía (Marbella), Nueva Andalucía, to the southwest of Marbella, Spain on the Costa del Sol. It was built in May 1970 by José Banús, ...

and

Estepona Estepona () is a town and municipality in the comarca of the Costa del Sol, southern Spain. It is located in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its district covers an area of 137 square kilometers in a fertile ...

and not far from

Ronda Ronda () is a town in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about west of the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is about 35,000. Ronda is known for its cliff-side location and a deep chasm ...

. The village has a population of approximately 2,000. It lies about 600 metres above sea level in the Sierra del Hacho, dominated by the Castillo del Aguila (Eagle's Castle), originally a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

stronghold, expanded by the

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

Tourist appeal

Gaucín is known for its views of

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, the Strait of Gibraltar and

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

, as well the surrounding mountain scenery. It can be used as a base for visits to the so-called '' pueblos blancos'' of Andalusia. The village is reached by a 24 km climb up a mountain road and presided over by a

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

castle. The population is augmented by a growing international community. Gaucin region

Gaucín has been the inspiration of a number of artists and writers, and has been referred to as the "balcony of the Ronda Mountains, where the Holy Child appeared to St.

John of God John of God ( pt, João de Deus; es, Juan de Dios; lat, Joannes Dei; March 8, 1495 – March 8, 1550) was a Portuguese soldier turned health-care worker in Spain, whose followers later formed the Brothers Hospitallers of Saint John of God, a ...

: the illustrious, always noble, very hospitable village of Gaucín." Gaucín offers visitors to the region a panoramic view to the Mediterranean including the rock of Gibraltar. Fossil in Gaucín

In Gaucín fossils can be found in the stoneworks of city building and street constructions.

Cultural life

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Hol ...

includes a procession to the church. A widely-attended

Easter Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the '' Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel ...

vigil takes place the night before.

Easter Sunday Easter,Traditional names for the feast in English are "Easter Day", as in the ''Book of Common Prayer''; "Easter Sunday", used by James Ussher''The Whole Works of the Most Rev. James Ussher, Volume 4'') and Samuel Pepys''The Diary of Samuel P ...

celebrations include the traditional 'toro de cuerda', where a bull is released on a cord in the morning and sold in the afternoon. A large carnival features ''chirigotas'', costumed groups that sing of current events in a humorous way. A party held on the main square with an orchestra goes on until dawn. The

feria In the liturgy of the Catholic Church, a feria is a day of the week other than Sunday. In more recent official liturgical texts in English, the term ''weekday'' is used instead of ''feria''. If the feast day of a saint falls on such a day, the ...

, which lasts three days, is a celebration of the town itself and is held annually in early August. It is complete with a variety of carnival rides and games booths. The festivities also include a large

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings: * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

where visitors can eat, drink, and watch musicians perform and a procession of horse riders competing for an award for the best presented. Castillo in Caucín

The

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

of the Holy Child is a ''

romeria Christianity has a strong tradition of pilgrimages, both to sites relevant to the New Testament narrative (especially in the Holy Land) and to sites associated with later saints or miracles. History Christian pilgrimages were first made to si ...

'' on the last Sunday of August. The image of the Holy Child is taken in procession from the castle to the site of his supposed apparition, now a hermitage, for a ''rociera'' (

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

) mass followed by dancing, singing, eating and drinking until dawn. A feast in honour of the Holy Child takes place on 7 and 8 September. Over nine days townsfolk climb to the castle for a

novena A novena (from Latin: ''novem'', "nine") is an ancient tradition of devotional praying in Christianity, consisting of private or public prayers repeated for nine successive days or weeks. The nine days between the Feast of the Ascension and Pe ...

, held in the Chapel of the Holy Child.

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...

is celebrated and guest preachers preach. A party is given in the main square with processions, food, drink, music, and dancing.

External links

Municipal website
in Spanish, with many pictures

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaucin Towns in Spain Municipalities in the Province of Málaga