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Click here to go to the home page of Casas de Lorenzo in Montefrio, one of the white villages of Andalucia, southern Spain, Andalusia... |
The romantic tale of Lorenzo and Montefrio
The olive-farming town of Montefrio lies at the heart of one of Spainīs most beautiful regions, the Montes Occidentales, or Western Hills, of Granada Province. It has conserved much of its traditional charm because it is "on the way to nowhere", in a geographical blind spot where three of Andaluciaīs provinces - Granada, Jaen and Cordoba - converge. Perhaps this is why Montefrio can claim to be one of the last "picturesque villages" of Spain which has not yet been discovered by mass tourism.
I first came here when I was a student at the University of Madrid, during the summer of 1960, because one of my classmates, a native of this town, suggested I make the pilgrimage to hear the great flamenco singer Manuel Avila, a goatherd and the town butcher. I fell under the spell of both the singer and the village too. Even then, isolated Montefrio was in a time warp of its own, lagging decades behind the rest of the country.
After an absence of some 20 years, I put an end to my roaming and settled in a small farmhouse near the town. A struggling author in search of an income, I had the idea of making it possible for others to enjoy the pleasures of everyday life in this traditional farming community, by fixing up a number of peasant cottages, and then announcing them on the Internet. This brought a small but steady stream of people from all around the world, eager to discover the village's ancient monuments, its narrow, twisting streets and many taverns - all providing excellent tapas with each glass of wine, free of charge!
In Montefrio, all visitors are treated not as anonymous tourists but as honoured guests and friends. Welcome, then, to Montefrio and to Las Casas de Lorenzo!
