Olvera is one of the pueblo blancos (white villages) in Andalucia, Southern Spain. It’s around an hour and a half’s drive from Malaga airport through some stunning scenery.
Driving from Malaga, you will see Olvera once you get about 15km away as you climb up the A384 from the East. That’s when the charm begins and you’ll easily recognise the church and castle perched on top of the hill even from that distance.
If you take the first exit into Olvera, you’ll come down to the Plaza de la Concordia at the bottom of the town – a roundabout with a fountain in the middle. If you’re there for the day, just park anywhere you can. It’s a hike around the town but there’s not really one place that’s any better than any other if you want to see the sights. Just prepare yourself for some hills. If you’re in Olvera then you’ll either be walking up a hill or you’ll be just about to.
As towns go, it’s not massive. There are things to see but I reckon you could do most of it in a day. You have a few main attractions:
- The Arab castle – About 2 euros to get into and worth every penny for the views
- The Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación church
- The Monumento al Sagrado Corazón – A steep climb up some steps in the rocks to the monument at the top
- The Via Verde de la Sierra – What was meant to be a railway line. Stations were built and the ground was prepared but that’s as far as it got. So now you have a 36km path that can be walked or cycled with a couple of the stations converted into restaurants and accommodation
I would say that Olvera is not a tourist destination in itself. The town won’t hold your interest for a week but it’s a beautiful town and worth looking round. It’s also a fantastic base to work from if you want to be near see places like Seville, Cadiz, Ronda and some of the other sites in Andalusia.
Most of the town caters for locals but there are lots of bars and places to eat where it would be easy to lose a few hours watching the world go by. Ultimately, if you’re looking for a holiday where you can immerse yourself in Spanish culture then this is the place for you. You’ll find very few people speak much English. There’s a guy in Ferreteria Santa Ana (Big hardware shop) and a lady in La Tejera (appliances and furniture) but that’s all we’ve come across. So you’d better learn some Spanish!
Throughout the year there are various religious festivals. One worth being there for is Semana Santa (Holy Week). This starts on Palm Sunday and ends on Good Friday. There are processions most days. We managed to see the procession on Friday this year. It’s an incredible spectacle.
The video here is of one of the floats. It’s enormous and this one was carried by over 70 men. They move very slowly and cover about 50m at a time before everything stops for about 10 minutes. Then, on command, they pick the float up again and start moving. It takes around 6 hours for the procession to cover to the town and it needs to be seen to be appreciated.
Whatever you do, if you’re arriving during Holy Week, check for road closures. We arrived at about midnight on Thursday and found that it was impossible to get to the house as all the roads were closed. We ended up parking on the edge of town and dragging our suitcases about half a mile to the house.