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Travel | Spain | History
Hemingway’s Dire Warning from the Cliffs of Ronda, Spain
The danger and horror of polarized neighbors, communities and country
It is sunset in Ronda, Spain, and the cliffs upon which this ancient town precariously perches glow golden beneath the Andalusian sky.
The Puente Nuevo, or New Bridge, that is actually over 230 years old, stands majestic with its towering arches that fill the 400-foot-deep cleft carved by the Guadalevín River.
It is called the New Bridge because it replaced Puente Viejo, the Old Bridge, which was built 400 years ago. That bridge replaced Puente Arabe, the Arabic Bridge, which is 700 years old. And that bridge, in turn, was built upon the foundation of Puente Romano, the Roman Bridge, which was constructed some 2,000 years ago.
I am on a narrow path that snakes along the canyon’s edge just below Puente Nuevo.
The pathway leads down from the city and into la caldera, the fertile, bowl-shaped plain across which spreads orchards of olive trees interspersed with swaths of wheat.
When most people visit here, they look up and are awed by Ronda’s breathtaking cliffs and majestic bridge.