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Geraniums add a delightful touch to windows and patios.
Unlike its equally venerable neighbour,
Alhaurín el Grande, which has managed to preserve and even
modestly flaunt a little of its Roman and Moorish heritage, Alhaurín
de la Torre has conspired to hide its past with such ruthless efficiency
that it is now almost impossible to find. Even the tower which gave
it its name is long gone.
Finding the two Alhauríns
is easy. Take the mighty N-340 highway south from Málaga
and look for the turnoff onto the C-344 leading to Churriana. Then
simply following the winding road along the Guadalhorce valley and
into the Sierra de Mijas.
This
easy access to the provincial capital is at the root of Alhaurín
de la Torre's economic resurrection and cultural decline. It has
been seized upon by many who work in Málaga but prefer not to live
in the conurbation, and is rapidly expanding as a commuter town.
There is little doubt that with the current explosion of building
in full swing, it will soon outstrip its neighbour in size and population.
We shall then have the ironic situation of Alhaurín el Grande being
the smaller of the two.
As
yet, the town is still set among large plantations of citrus and
avocado, but as it continues to grow, and land becomes increasingly
scarce and valuable, it may be that many of them will disappear.
Having
said all this, there is nonetheless history to find if the visitor
is diligent enough, though this is chiefly in the outlying suburbs
such as La Alquería and Cortijo Molina. Perhaps aware that time
is their enemy, the town council, the ayuntamiento, has enterprisingly
compiled an exhaustive list of archæological sites, the Carta Arqueológica.
This includes many sites which had previously been unrecorded, and
which are not protected by preservation orders. It is obvious that
these are the ones in most danger from the developers' bulldozers.
La
Alquería was once a town of sorts in its own right, beginning as
a 3rd Century BC Iberian hill fort and flourishing for a while under
the Romans before petering out around 200AD. Nevertheless, there
are still vestigial remnants of Roman masonry in the area, though
many of them are now on private land and out of reach.
The
biggest attraction for visitors to Alhaurín de la Torre is undoubtedly
the gardens of El Retiro. Founded in the 17th Century by Fray Alonso
de Santo Tomás, Bishop of Málaga, and originally use by him as his
retirement home (hence, El Retiro) the gardens display an impressive
variety of plant and wild life. Each section attempts to recreate
the natural habitat of the creatures housed in it, from semi-desert
to tropical swamp. The manor house at its centre has also been impressively
restored.
A visit to El Retiro is enough to
make even the most jaded visitor forget the frantic scramble beyond
its walls, and forgive Alhaurín de la Torre most of its more
earthly sins.
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