Flowers in Guaro.
Guaro prides itself on its nuts: almonds to be precise. Signs on the approach roads to the village declare it to be the "Paraiso Natural de las Almendras" (the Natural Almond Paradise), and it boasts an almond college.
In making such a claim, the village seems to be clutching at straws in a bold effort to find itself an identity. For although it is an old village it has succeeded either by fate or design to avoid stumbling into the limelight for centuries. It does not appear to have featured in any notable historical event, and seems never to have rated a notable fortification. However, a castle of some kind presumably existed in the sixteenth century, when the Duke of Arcos garrisoned his troops in the village as they moved in to quell a Moorish revolt.
As the world moves inexorably into the 21st Century, the small mountain communities of Andalucía, at least those which have not managed to attract tourists and new, wealthy expatriate residents, are finding it increasingly difficult to survive. The streets of Guaro are curiously devoid of young men - so many having moved away to find work in the thriving cities on the coast.
Spring at Guaro.
But Guaro is not giving up without a fight. As a slogan, "The Natural Almond Paradise" may not generate the tourist-pulling power of Disneyworld, but it is a start. And as a pointer to their hoped-for future the people, led by four students of the local building trade training centre, got together in 1997 to turn an old Guardia Civil barracks into the town's first hotel: the unimaginatively named Hostal Villa de Guaro. Actually, giving the hotel the town's name may not be as banal as it first appears. If it is to survive and attract visitors, the first thing the town needs to teach people is its name. True,the hotel has only eight rooms, but the people have shown that if need be, they can soon build some more.
And in the meantime they grow their almonds and wait. But for how long?
Min: 21C