Ronda, in Andalucía in the south of Spain, is considered the birthplace of the Spanish variant of bullfighting. Ronda's bullring, which dates to the 1780s, is considered one of the finest rings in the country. Much has been written of the bullfight, a lot of it heaping praise on the courage of the matador who "dances" with and eventually kills the bull by stabbing it through the heart with a sword. But in the Monkey's considered opinion, having witnessed the prep work done on the bull before the matador ever sets foot in the ring (like repeatedly stabbing the bull's spinal cord with a long spear and thrusting daggers into its back, leaving the animal disoriented and weakened), the spectacle was hardly impressive. Killing the already mortally-wounded bull and claiming bravery is a bit like shooting a heavyweight boxer in the stomach at the start of the fight and then claiming your cunning and fists were what actually did him in.

In recent years, Spain has become increasingly isolated within the European community regarding its continuation of (cruel) folkloric traditions involving animals, such as throwing live baby goats from church spires during town festivals, and, of course, the bullfight itself. In a country with such a depth of other traditions to draw on, one wonders why this savagery needs to carry on any longer. In Ronda's bullring, the Monkey sat to ponder the needless bloodshed that routinely occurs in this admittedly beautiful stadium.

Ronda is one of the most scenic towns in all of Andalucía. The town straddles a 100 meter gorge called El Tajo, with buildings on both rims sidling right up to the edge. Connecting the two sides of town is the beautiful Puente Nuevo, or New Bridge, which isn't all that new any more considering work on it began in 1751.

While visiting Ronda, the Monkey sampled some of the local anisado, Anís el Tajo, and found the 110-proof clear alcohol quite intoxicating. Thankfully he didn't deign to cross the Puente Nuevo after that indulgence.

El Mono visits Grazalema, one of Andalucía's storybook pueblos blancos (white towns). This small town, with the whitewashed buildings along narrow streets so characteristic of classic Andalucía, is nestled amongst gorgeous mountainous terrain, and the nearby Grazalema Nature Park is a hiker's delight. Grazalema also claims to be the rainiest town in all of Spain. As far as he recalls, the rain came through on cue during the Monkey's stop there.

The Monkey sits between the arches of Ronda's famous bullring while pondering taking a siesta. U.S. novelist and bullfighting fan Ernest Hemingway, drawn to Ronda because of its scenery and bullfights, once haunted these same benches.

The Monkey sits in front of the church in Arcos de la Frontera, one of the larger Andalusian white hill towns. The town sits high atop of sort of butte. The Monkey's hotel room door opened out onto a narrow balcony-like walkway with a vertiginous drop and a magnificent view over farm fields.

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