Jimena de la Frontera - Cádiz
The town of Jimena de la Frontera is located in the Campo de Gibraltar that belongs to Cádiz. Placed between the Serranía de Ronda and the Bay of is a real crossroads, taking into account that it is located inside the , the last Mediterranean wood in Europe and declared Historic Site in 1.983.
Jimena de la Frontera borders on the North with ; on the South with and ; on the East with and ; on the West with
The town has an area of 345,24 kms2, at a height of 203 metres and it has three rivers (Guadiaro - Hozgarganta and Guadarranque)
It is a village that is located under its castle in the slopes of San Cristóbal hill, under the protection of the cork tress, gall-oak groves and banks of the large Hozgarganta River.
We can observe the antiquity of the first human settlements in the cave paintings of Laja Alta, where there are the only maritime scenes of Spanish Bronze Age. The place has three thousand years old, although it usually identifies with the ancient city of Oba, an Iberian colony. In it the emperor Marco Antonio was born during roman age.
Arabs called it Xemina or Ximena, a name given in 1431 by Christians after the conquest from its similarity to the proper came Jimena, to what added the word Frontera, because it was for centuries an important frontier enclave, first it was nasrid and then to the Christians, who conquest it in 1456.
Some years later, the troops formed in this village took part in the taking of Granada under the command of Rodrigo Ponce de León. In XVI century the bandit Pedro Machuca, with three hundred followers, was settled in this area, setting up his headquarters in Laq Sauceda, where nowadays it is located . The first bandits of whom we have written accounts appeared in texts of Miguel de Cervantes and Vicente Espinel.
During the War of Spanish Succession, the troops of Jimena defended Gibraltar together with Felipe V, this gave them the title "very loyal". Jimena obtained the title of city in 1879, thanks to the king Alfonso XII. With the loss of Gibraltar at the beginning of XVIII century, Jimena de la Frontera was transformed into an important military enclave. At the end of this century, it took place the building of the second andalusian blast furnace on the banks of Hoz-Garganta River.
The War of Independence made that Jimena was the scene of some battles and the loss of most of its historic-artistic heritage.
Monuments
Cave Paintings in la Laja Alta
The Castle
The Tower of El Homenaje
El Cao
The Sanctuary
The Bell Tower
Church of La Misericordia
Church of Ntra. Señora de la Victoria
The Bath of La Reina Mora
Routes
Las Naranjas
Avenue of Santuario
Route of El Toro - The Paradise of El Venado
River Hozgarganta
Path of Ubrique - Asomadillas
Gastronomy
The typical products we can find in Jimena de la Frontera are pork, kid or hunting meat,  vegetables and greens, and a delicious confectionery with an Arab tradition.
We have dishes like stew of leg, consisting of pieces of pork, together with other stews of lamb or kid. Stews of venison and partridge and rabbit are cooked with hunting meat.
The oranges and the fruit-trees of irrigated regions of San Martín del Tesorillo are well known.
With regard to confectionery, we have to emphasize the doughnuts of wine, and the most typical one: the piñonate (candied pine-nut), made with flour, honey and almonds, that comes from an ancestral recipe with an andalusí inspiration.
How to get there
From the South part (the area of Algeciras): by the motorway E-15/A-7 we have to take the exit 115 (Taraguilla, Ronda, Jimena de la Frontera). By the motorway A-369 until you arrive to the Station of Jimena. From here the village is several minutes.
From the North part (Ronda): go down the mountainous of Ronda by the motorway A-369 until you enter the province of Cádiz (San Pablo de Buceite) and to 9 kilometres we arrive to Jimena de la Frontera in the right slope.
Distances
To Cádiz 110 km
To Ubrique 58 km
To Sevilla 161 km
To Málaga 136 km
To Marbella 78 km
To Algeciras 42 km
To Los Barrios 40 km
To Alcalá de los Gazules 50 km
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