A Moorish village in Spain

Sedella is a traditional village in the hills above Malaga in Spain's southernmost province, Andalucia. Traffic could only penetrate so far into the village before the steep cobbles and narrow lanes became impossible to navigate.

We stayed a week here one early November in Casa Mula, 'the Mule House' which still had a donkey for a neighbour. This one-time livestock shed has been converted into a prim white tower, with one room stacked atop the other, finishing with a rooftop terrace.

View of Sedella from Casa Mula's roof terrace

The ground floor kitchen with its cane ceiling was small but perfectly suitable. Next floor up was the sitting room with a wood burner. Up again, to the bedroom and bathroom, before popping out onto the roof with its loungers and BBQ. The view took in the stepped streets of the village, with the peaks of the Sierra de Almijara soaring overhead.

At night we could only hear the occasional church bell punctuating the continual murmur of mountain streams sweeping down the mountain slopes. Oh, and what at first sounded like a chainsaw-armed maniac but instead turned out to be scooters revving up the back alleys....

The twisting mountain roads meant it took awhile to travel around the foothills (some of the approaches to Sedella were marked 'dangerous' on our road map). We managed to make trips into the large city of Malaga as well as to other lovely towns like Competa and Alhama, which I will feature on these pages soon.

I will mention though that our first foray was to Colmenar, a centre of honey production which had a small old town at its core. From here there were views of the cloud-shrouded mountains and olive groves surrounding us.

While strolling the palm-shaded plaza of Colmenar, we were greeted with the sound of a pellet rifle. A pigeon fell flapping onto the ground near the fountain and a youngster ran up, grabbed its feet and dashed the bird against the pavement. He then hopped into a waiting car which roared off down the street, heading for someone's cooking pot. This put me off making any attempts to pick one of the ripe limes from the plaza's trees, lest I be mistaken for easy game.

About two miles away from Sedella is another small village, Salares, which was free of traffic and sharpshooters.

The intricate brickwork of the church belltower indicates it used to be the minaret of a Moorish mosque from the Arabian days.

In addition, a stone footbridge which leads out of the village and into the wooded slopes of the valley above it is called the 'Arab bridge'. Every step of the trail offers a new angle on Salares as you climb higher into the forest, with nothing but the wafting aroma of rosemary shrubs and the far-off tinkling of goat bells for company.

And with all this plus warm sunshine and 75 degrees in November, you won't be wondering for long why my thoughts have turned to this lovely place this time of year!