"Mañana" - The Andalucia Guide & Diary

Forgotten trails in La Mairena

Today enjoyed a wonderful walk in the warm afternoon sun. When walking near the house, I normally I always head west, as within a kilometre or so in the 4 x 4 there is loads of trails and they have amazing views out over the coast and beyond.

Yet, this time I headed down the hill towards the small river that runs through the edge of La Mairena; and there, hidden down in the rocky gorge I found this charming little bridge, forming part of a really old route built here in the 19^th Century.

It’s really narrow and was probably used by mules carrying the cork oak at harvesting time

Part of the mountain is still recovering from fire as shown by these palms below. but most of the area is buzzing with wildlife. Partridge were flying out from amongst the trees, and above Swifts were swooping, catching bugs.

Wild herbs including mint, thyme and rosemary make walking through the scrub a aromatic experience!

The most noticable thing was how dry everything was. This autumn has been so sunny that the normal streams and brooks that run down these mountainsides and through these creeks were dry, except for few pools. The river was flowing, but at nothing like its normal rate for winter.

I can see Africa!

This evening the view from La Mairena was beautiful. My camera doesn't do it justice, but not only were the Pillars of Hercules in full view, but so was the northern tip of Africa, looking very close in deed.

 

Nature’s remarkable capacity to regenerate – 2 months after the catastrophic Mijas / Ojen fire in La Mairena

Although our ever-increasing demand for resources often takes for granted the planet’s amazing ecological ability to regenerate, it still surprises me just how quickly this process can be.

With the autumn sun streaming into the house, I got up this morning and quickly took a few shots of La Mairena before breakfast.

It’s just about 2 months since the catastrophic fire that ripped through parts of the sierra de Ojen, La Mairena and down to Mijas. Yet, after the cleansing storms, the oak trees and Mediterranean scrub and palms are fighting back, despite temperatures that reached hundreds of degrees, buckling steel. There is now vigorous growth on almost 80 percent of the oak trees!

Punctuating the blackened landscape is the bright fresh lime green of new shoots.  Many of the oak trees in La Mairena looked like they had been lost, but luckily many surrounding the urbanisations of El Soto de Marbella and El Vicario had not been harvested for oak, so thanks to the trees’ remarkable fire retardant bark , many have survived. These trees are clearly stressed and compromised, so let’s hope this winter then recuperate as much as possible.

Even some of the sub tropical plants used for landscaping developments are sprouting.

Sadly, the pines trees though have been destroyed on the stunning sierra de Ojen. I came back and had breakfast on the terrace looking out over the mountains, and although there are small oases of green, most of the mountain is covered in tans and browns.

 

The morning after the night before...La Mairena burning.

We’ve returned home to La Mairena to see the full extent of the fire damage. I understand that over 500 hectares have been destroyed, 300 families evacuated (although I am sure it was more than that as homes in across La Mairena, parts of Ojen municipality and down to Calahonda were all evacuated) and even some homes destroyed.  So far no news about fatalities, so that is a blessing and a miracle.

Living in Andalucia, I've witnessed fires before, but nothing like the intensity of this, and the fact it was so close to home brought emotions like fear and sadness to ahead.It started at 8.30pm, we were on the terrace with a friend enjoying wine and suddenly there was a noise and huge column of thick black smoke dominated the sky. The next few hours things moved fast but it wasn't until around midnight that we knew we were in potential trouble and then we got calls from neighbours lower down the mountain who were being evacuated and access roads up to La Mairena were being closed.

The worst was being away from home and not knowing if the neighbourhood was damaged or not. As we left the heat was intense and it was the noise more than anything that was scary - the sound of the trees cracking and bursting; and of course the flames which with the strong winds were climbing higher than some of the apartment blocks.

We were evacuated last night at about 1.30am.  We’re high up in Monte Elviria, so had time to put personal  things in the car, put down all the shutters; others further down had very little time to get out. The neighbourhood met up down in Elviria. I ended up gaving out a towel and some car rugs to a few neighbours, parents who had left so quickly that their young kids were without anything.

What to take in a fire seems like a cliche but we had to face that. We had time, and made the most of it and grabbed some family heirlooms; photo albums and my laptop and iPhone charger!

The fire raged all night, as the INFOCA, the Andalusian Fire Fighters can’t operate helicopters or planes at night. Speculation is that the fire was started deliberately as it was a hot day, with strong warm winds and people know that night fires cannot be tackled by aircraft.

As soon as dawn broke the planes and helicopters started work - and the helicopters have continued all day, getting water from La Cala Golf resort, whilst aircraft dump bright red fire retardant and even more water.

Now the national and local press are here - I guess this is the kind of drama the arsonist enjoys.

 

This morning, everything is covered in ash. Our house is fine, but the terraces and furniture are covered in debris and ash and the view is of blackened trees.

 

Remarkably apartments and homes in La Mairena were saved – the flames came right up to the walls.

Now, mid morning the smoke is clearing and the fire is out except for Mijas/Calahonda. Thick smoke is still visible there and Calahonda alta remains evacuated.

Many people in the forest have lost their homes and unique UNESCO habitat has been destroyed.

The skies above are filled with the sound of some 17 helicopters and 4 aircraft - they just going over our house and swooping down to kill areas that are flaring up again.

But we are the lucky ones - we are safely back in our homes. Yest some have lost their homes. From my terrace I can see at least two destoyed properties - the heat and height of the flames meant these small cottages didn't stand a chance. The fire fighters managed to rescue residents, including an elderly couple found sitting in their bath filled with water, not knowing what to do.

PS Sorry for disjointed writing style - I have had very little sleep!

PPS Here is some recent coverage from the Sur In English newspaper.

Buzz off! Busy saving the word, one bee at a time

Taking a morning walk in the Sierra de Ojen is a pretty good way to deal with the ‘morning after the Saturday night before’ feeling.

There’s the familiar Sunday morning crowd in the countryside near my house; a few joggers; neighbours walking dogs; and as you head further into the mountains, one sees a few locals in khaki fatigues with shotguns held open over their arms; its quiet other than the sound of the odd land cruiser passing by and the warm sound of the bellwether, deep amongst a herd of goats.

One sight that is becoming increasingly familiar is that of beehives. This morning I discovered, nestling amongst some Mediterranean scrum, on a small patch of land overlooking the coast, a modest apiary. I’m seeing more and more of these across Andalucía; compact, pale blue wooden boxes resting on pallets, the surrounding air filled with an almost electrical buzz as the busy honey bees do what they do best. Beekeeping appears to really be experiencing a renaissance as the market for artisan and pure products grows across Europe. Although Spain is probably Europe’s biggest producer of honey, much of it is factory processed. We need to turn our backs on the aggressively heat treated, amalgamated supermarket brands and support local producers. This is even more important when one considers Spain’s bee keepers have had to deal with a decline of some 40% in the number of bees due to unknown illness and its honey market is under attack from cheap imports.

Over recent years there have been major collapses in bee populations across the world, especially in Europe and the USA; with speculation about mysterious diseases, climate change and over use of chemicals by farmers.

National and local governments are waking up the importance of bees to agricultural and are beginning to invest in research to find out what is killing so many bees. The Junta de Andalucía is working with farmers to help the industry, with grants, and the University of Cordoba has created a centre of excellence in Granada’s new ‘Parque de las Ciencias’.

In addition, beekeeping is attracting more and more novices. Bruno, a friend of mine in Paris is making a good living from it and has experienced a revival in his sense of purpose and motivation for work.

“Just go for it!” I said to him; as we sat in a small restaurant in rue Tiquetonne, in Paris’ 2nd arrondissement. We’d known each other for 20 years and worked together in my ‘London-Old-Street’ days. Bruno had continued with his corporate career, but over a meal 18 months ago, he was discussing with me his dream to escape the politics of business and instead become an urban beekeeper.

Now Bruno and his partner Rémy are full time apiarists, caring for hundreds of colonies. He’s been super busy recently preparing for winter, bringing the hives in from the countryside to overwinter across Paris; on the rooftops of apartment buildings. Last year they produced over four and half tonnes of honey and sold nearly 15,000 jars.

Here in Andalucía the sector is dominated by a few large producers, with the natural parks of Grazalema and Alconocales being popular sites for bee keeping in Malaga and Cadiz provinces - although Almeria is Andalucía’s bigger producer.

Yet like my friend in France, local people in Spain, including foreign residents, are getting involved by caring for a colony or two of bees. It’s a great way to save the world, since bees play a fairly major part in pollination and helping farmers grow food to feed us!

Thanks honey!

...but now they only block the sun...

Early this morning - well, 9am, which is early for me, I was greeted with a little bit of Friday cumulus!
Last night's storm was the first of the season and brought the first rain for over three and half months, so this morning the air is fresh, and moist with the smell of damp countryside.
The sky looks amazing - although it is not exactly great news for The Marbella Masters Tennis that kicks off today.

Naked Mediterranean Cork Oaks, La Mairena

After a boozy night out in Malaga last night, today I needed some exercise! I took my bike out, taking the tracks that lead around the cork forests near the house.
The evening was beautiful; the warm light exaggerated the visual impact of the red bark of the recently harvested cork oak trees. In august it was the turn of our neighbourhood trees to have their cork removed; a process that happens every eight to ten years and involves the manual removal of the thick, twisted outer bark. Huge piles of cork bark were stacked up under the trees last month, and swiftly taken away to a processing factory in a huge truck – each load worth thousands of euros.
Now, the naked trees, stripped of their protective, parasitical jackets, reveal their natural, rich red bark, which looked stunning this evening as the sun was going down. The thick, spongy bark is thought to be a natural defence mechanism against forest fires - and it does seem to work. After the local fire this spring (which I blogged about on January 30 this year), remarkably the oak trees have recovered. Where the pine trees have been destroyed, the oaks have re-sprouted with a wealth of new growth on the ancient branches – something that must have happened multiple times in their life.
The Andalucía cork industry remains big business, despite wineries migrating to plastic corks and screw tops, under pressure from supermarkets that want to minimise wastage due to ‘corked’ wines that have oxidised, due to imperfections in the cork that has allowed too much air into the bottle.

Phoenix & the fire

Remarkably, from an inferno that can engulf hundreds of hectares of forest in minutes, life can swiftly return.
Usually the forest fire season ends in September, yet last year it continued until the middle of December, due the driest autumn for decades. The risk was driven home personally a few months ago when a small, yet intense fire broke out a few kilometres from us in La Mairena.

The Junta de Andalucia has identified a number of communities like ours that are in ‘interphase’ zones (between forested and urbanised areas). The number of these has grown hugely in the past decade as developers have moved further into the Mediterranean mountains; so the local government has been tasked with enhancing response to fires that once were simply ecological challenges, but now could pose direct human threats.

Taking a morning walk today, I revisited the site of the recent fire near us and it was amazing to see the phoenix rise from the ashes. With the smell of soot still in the air, buds are sprouting from blacked oak trees and one can see the swift renewal of the scrub and palms that cling to the mountainside.  Let’s hope it is not too long before this hillside is once again teaming with life.

If it wasn’t for the broad fire breaks that scar the landscape up here, the fire would surely have engulfed a far greater area, threatening the ancient oaks forests that make this area so special. In fact it is good to see that the Junta is taking a more proactive role in not just dealing with fires but preventing them.  The European Forest Institute’s Phoenix Fire ecology and post-fire management programme is one of growing number of sources of intelligence and guidance for Mediterranean countries that seem to face greater fire risk due to climate change and human development.

www.andaluciadiary.com blog

P.S. I have recently been appointed Correspondent for Marbella and west for The Sur in English.

Within grasp but out of reach...

...photos of the sunset tonight. Africa and Gibraltar seem sooo close.

 

La Mairena to Ojen - for tree huggers

So, summer seems to have returned! Yesterday had to be a beach day, but today, it was "a warm-up" hike, getting ready for tomorrow's expedition to Sierra Nevada. 
We went from La Mairena through the forests of pine,eucalyptus and chestnut trees, onto Ojen.
We finally ended up in Monda searching some refreshement.

Despite being Oct, it was high 20s and a cold beer and a tapa of manchego cheese was the order of the day. Just to the left of the path going up to the main square in Monda, I found this delapidated electricity sub station from the ´40s or '50s.

Sadly these buildings are being lost to developers wanting to build characterless apartment blocks.