Setenil de las Bodegas

January 21^st, 2026 

With rain in the forecast, it was time to move on from Algodonales.  I stopped in the small city of Ronda for some much needed laundry and then decided to take a slight detour to check out the town of Setenil de las Bodegas.  This was the village where we had our excruciatingly long lunch yesterday with the paragliding crew.  The restaurant was located on the edge of town, so we didn’t see it until we left in the van, and that was only a brief glimpse.  Yet it was enough for me to want to come back to have a closer look.

This town of about 3000 inhabitants is not a major tourist destination, but it does attract some visitors.  Why?  Thanks to the unique “cave-houses”.  Many buildings are built into the rock wall of a sharp bend in the Rio Trejo.

How cool is that? 

There were a number of restaurants along this section.

The site was occupied during the Roman invasion of the region in the 1st century AD.  The name Setenil is thought to derive from the Roman Latin phrase septem nihil (seven times no), which refers to the failure of the Catholics to retake the city from the walls six times.  Only in the seventh attempt was it successful.  It was in 1484 that modern Setenil came into being.

People settled in the city for practical reasons.  The natural caves of Setenil were perfect homes because they could keep the heat out in summer and the cold in winter.  Just as importantly, the cool caves were ideal for storing agricultural products such as olives, almonds and wine – hence the town’s nickname Bodegas (warehouses) – which were grown in the town.

A home under construction, or reconstruction.

The modern way of making a new home in Setenil.

Heading up to the high point.

This was a cool littl cafe in part way up the riverbank.

It's like they made the road to mimic the curviness of the river.

Looks like Jesus is running the tourist centre in town.

A panoramic view of the town.

Looking away from the main part of town...still more "cave-homes".

The centre high point is where the church is.  I briefly popped my head in there.

This is the same angle as the previous photo...but why not make it a great place to sit and have a drink!  (not that I did...it was wet out)

This section is a full on tunnel.

Looking back the other way through the tunnel.

After wandering around for about an hour, it was time to get back on the road.  I was glad I had stopped to check out Setenil, definitely a one-of-a-kind place.

Check out how many wind turbines are in this photo!  Probably 60-70 at least.

Some olive trees...Spain has tons of them.

I likes how these turbines were lined up.

This was a weird place...it seemed like a graveyard for floaty things.  Perhaps the sell new and used items for parks or personal use.

This is part of the same place.  Unfortunately I couldn't get as good of a view of it for a photo as I did from driving by on the highway.  This was the graveyard part of the place.

I arrived in the late afternoon in Antequera.  This was the view from my camping spot for the night.  I'll go check out that castle tomorrow morning.