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Looters Target Acinipo Roman Ruins

Criminals using sophisticated metal detectors have been entering the grounds of Acinipo and detecting metal objects buried under the soil leading to 400 cases of theft.

Roman City Acinipo

Roman City Acinipo

Acinipo is one of the most precious historical sites in the Serranía de Ronda, a fact not lost on thieves who have been using sophisticated metal detectors to discover coins and fragments of other metal objects.

Over 400 holes have been dug, described by the Friends of Acinipo Association as blatant vandalism and theft of public property. The thieves have cut numerous holes in the fence surrounding Acinipo of the last month and a half, causing thousands of Euros damage to the enclosures.

With shovels and hoes, the thieves are digging holes wherever they detect metal, with complete disregard for stone foundations they encounter. This type of brazen vandalism is impossible assess how much damage is being caused since Acinipo is a working archeological dig with much yet to be discovered about the city.

Manual Garcia, Provincial Delegate for Culture yesterday met with senior representatives of the various local police agencies to demand increased night time patrols of the area, and the apprehension of those responsible.

Aside from damage to the fences, it’s estimated several hundred coins and other relics would have been stolen, with a conservative value in the tens of thousands of Euros not including the value to Ronda of their cultural loss.

Acinipo is a ruined Roman city located at around 15 minutes north of Ronda, and from the 1st century BC to the end of the 5th century AD was one of Roman Iberia’s most important cities. By Imperial decree, Acinipo was entitled to mint it’s own coins, thousands of which are believed to still be buried under the ruins.

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Ronda

Ronda is one of Spain's most visited cities for good reason, our little city is very compact, in fact from arriving in Ronda, to seeing the Real Maestranza bullring, the Puente Nuevo, the many beautiful churches, our museums, or the wonderful coffee shops and tapas bars, we have it all within a short 30 minute walk.

Of course, most visitors need at least 2 or 3 days to see everything because a lot can be packed into your time in Ronda. Stay in one of Ronda’s many excellent hotels, with a choice of restaurant covering tapas in a local bar, menu del dia, or a la carte menu.

A walking tour of Ronda is a pleasant and enjoyable way to spend a lazy few hours, almost everything you could want to see in Ronda is no more than 200-300 metres from the new bridge.

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As one of the most visited cities in Spain, Ronda has a fantastic selection of hotels, hostels, guesthouses, and self-catered accommodation guaranteed to suit all tastes.

Whether it's just one night, or several weeks that you need we can help you find somewhere to rest your weary bones while you're in the city of dreams - La Ciudad Soñada.

Join great names like Orson Welles, Earnest Hemingway, Rainer Rilke, James Joyce, Jorge Luis Borges, Madonna, or Jamie Oliver who have enjoyed their time in Ronda.

Visitors who plan to make Ronda their new home should check out our property section, where we talk about some of the gotchas that can occur. Forewarned is forearmed.

Why Visit Ronda

A small city perched on a seemingly precarious platform of rock, Ronda is in fact an impregnable fortress only defeated in battle through trickery, and during the reconquest with modern (for the era) rock blasting cannon.

The mountains and valleys of the Serranía de Ronda are home to a tough breed of people, yet in Ronda these people are refined, some are gentry, some gypsies, others are just common folk, but all proudly call themselves Rondeños.

These days the population of Ronda is a little over 35,000 souls; big enough to offer all the essential services, but not big enough to suffer traffic problems or big city woes.

Rondeños have played a pivotal role in shaping Andalucía and modern Spain, and the city has hosted some of the great names of politics, the arts, education, and played her role in military events.

An hour from the Costa del Sol, Ronda is too far away to be heavily influenced by events on the coast, yet still close enough to benefit from the economic strength that tourism brings to Southern Spain. At a height of 723m, Ronda has a cooler year round temperature than the coast, making life in Ronda altogether more agreeable than other Andalucían cities.

Serranía de Ronda

Ronda is the biggest city in northern Malaga province, and the closest city to many of the smaller villages in Cadiz province, making Ronda an ideal base for exploring the Serrania.

Within a few kilometres of Ronda are some of the most visited Pueblos Blancos, the famous white villages of Andalucia, Setenil de las Bodegas, Grazalema, Gaucín, Juzcar, Benalauria, Montejaque, Teba, Cortes de la Frontera, Igualeja, the list goes on...

As well, Ronda is close to three natural parques, the Grazalema park, Alcornocales park, and the Sierra de las Nieves park. The Serranía is also home to pre-historic cave paintings at Benaojan, Neolithic dolmens at Montecorto, and of course, the Roman city of Acinipo.

The countryside of the Serranía is described as unique, in fact universally important. Many endemic species make their home here, including the pre ice age Pinsapa pine tree, and numerous orchids only found on our mountains.