Andalucia Life, Towns, Villages and Cities
Jimena de la Frontera
Jimena de la Frontera is a typical 'reconquest' village. The words 'de la Frontera' indicate that it was on the border between Moorish occupied Spain and the invading Christians. It is a fine example of an Andalucian 'white village' with a castle dominating the town.
How to Get There
From the East - Take the N340 to Sabinillas and from the main roundabout take the road to Manilva. Go through Manilva following the signs for Gaucin. At Gaucin you reach a 'T' junction at the Bar la Cruse. Turn left here and a few metres further at a junction with the main Algeciras to Ronda road turn left. Stay on this road for 21 kilometres until you reach a junction with a sign indicating Jimena to the right. Turn right. Park in the car park at the bottom of the village.
From the West - take the N340 to Torreguadiaro and follow the signs for San Enrique, continue on this road through San Enrique and on to San Martin de Tesorillo, carry on until you reach the 'T' junction with the main Algeciras to Ronda road. Turn right. After 16 kilometres turn left into Jimena.
Geography
Jimena de la Frontera occupies a steep hill, Mount St. Christobal, on a ridge between the rivers Hozgarganta and Guadiaro. The town is at a height of 203 metres.
History
Since the paintings were made in the cave of Laja Alta, near Jimena, around 1,000 BC, numerous civilisations have gone through the lands of Jimena: Iberians, Roman, Visigoth, Arab and Christian, of which many ruins are preserved. The paintings represent sea scenes and depict Phoenician style ships.
It is in the Roman period when the region was at its real height, due to the intensive agricultural exploitation of the plains crossed by the rivers Guadiaro and Hozgarganta. The Roman town of Oba, situated on the hill above Jimena, already founded by the Iberians, even minted its own money.
In the 4th Century AD Oba was abandoned as Rome withdrew its troops to meet the increasing threat posed by the Suevi, Alan and Vandal invaders from central Europe. In 415 AD in the rest of Andalucia the Visigoths, at the invitation of Rome, moved south from Gaul to displace the barbarian horde. They were successful and became Christian and spoke Latin. There is no evidence of them occupying Oba.
The hill was ignored by the Moors during their invasion of 711 AD, and remained unoccupied until the 9th and 10th Centuries when a group of Spanish Christians established a church and small settlement on the hill beneath the Roman ruins. This site is now known as the Moorish Queen's Bath and can still be seen. These people called their village Jimena.
Only as the Muslims were being driven south out of Spain did Jimena become part of the defensive network of castles. The castle as seen today was probably started between 1150 and 1200 AD. The Arabs baptized it Ximena.
It constituted an important border enclave for two centuries, acquiring its suffix 'de la Frontera'. It was held first by the Nazarits, taken in 1431 by the Christians who held it for 20 years when it was retaken by the Muslims and finally by the Christians again in 1456.
Following the Moorish occupation and final ejection in 1492, people started to move out of the castle and build the town we see today surrounding the churches. A record of 1431 mentions three churches at Jimena, one of which, the oldest, La Misericordia, was an Arab mosque until the change of religion. As in other places, the Christian church was built on top of the mosque.
The town was handed over to the domain of the Medina Sidonia family in 1510. After some centuries of peace, farming and cattle breeding, the 18th Century, with the loss of Gibraltar, turns Jimena again into a military enclave. The Royal Artillery Factory at Jimena was established during this period to provide the cannon balls to bombard Gibraltar during the 1779 - 1783 seige. There is a well preserved canal that supplied water to the iron factory, to provide power for the water driven bellows used to blast the furnace. The canal was used by the Rodete Mill, downstream of the furnace until 1964 to grind flour. Little now remains of the furnace or factory itself.
During the Peninsular Wars, 1808 - 1814, General Ballesteros used the castle as his barracks. The wall around the Moorish tower was built during this period. Jimena de la Frontera was nominated as a city in 1879.
Flora and Fauna
Jimena is situated in the Alcornocales National Park, an area of 170,000 hectares and one of Europe's largest Mediterranean forests. The main species is the cork oak, the bark of which is still cut revealing first the shiny crimson trunk that fades through ginger as the bark regrows. Hidden away in the deep valleys and water courses are some surprises. The terrain has produced a micro climate that, from the Tertiary period, has enabled some prehistoric plants to survive, there are varieties of alder, ash, laurel, hazel and rhododendron as well as several species of fern still growing and looking as they did 1.5 million years ago.
It is within this area that you may see the rare Imperial and Royal eagles. Mammals include ferrets, otters, wildcats, foxes, badgers, genets and various deer.
Festivals, Carnival February / March
The festive year starts with Carnival. All the towns within the municipality contribute a Carnival group. There are competitions and performances by local groups. The festivities end with the eating of a Tagarnina, a dish made from edible thistles.
International Music Festival
Held during the last two weeks of July this festival draws musicians and groups from all over the world. The president of the Honorary Board is H.M. Queen Sofia.
August Fair
This feria was started in 1842 and is the occasion when people with ties to Jimena return to dance all night.
The Novena Fair
This festival is dedicated to the patron saint of Jimena, Our Lady of the Angels. It is held during the last three days of Novena and includes the annual Flamenco Festival and a culinary competition, the dishes all being of local origin.