Axarquía’s White Villages Draw International Visitors Seeking ‘Slow Tourism’
Small-group excursions from Nerja and Torrox are taking foreign visitors inland to the Axarquía's mountain villages, where autumn and winter are the busiest months.
A growing number of international visitors are heading inland from Nerja and Torrox to explore the white villages and mountain scenery of the Axarquía, the area of eastern Malaga province, according to Euro Weekly News.
The trend is known as “slow tourism”: travelling at a relaxed pace, meeting local people and learning about their customs rather than focusing on beaches and the usual attractions.
Who is travelling
Oletrips, a company that organises small-group excursions around the Axarquía and other parts of Andalucía, says most of its customers come from abroad. British, Swedish, Irish, Canadian, German, Swiss and American visitors are among its most frequent nationalities.
The firm says its typical customer is over 50 and is interested in local culture, gastronomy, history and traditional ways of life.
Villages and hands-on experiences
One excursion visits Archez, Canillas de Albaida, Salares and Sayalonga, four small municipalities with mountain landscapes and historic buildings. The routes also look at the area’s Moorish heritage, a part of the region’s history that can be missed on a conventional coastal holiday.
Visitors can spend time with a goat herder, learn how beekeepers work, or try making traditional village bread and roscos de vino, a sweet wine biscuit popular in Andalucía.
A season beyond summer
Although Malaga province is closely associated with summer holidays, Oletrips says autumn and winter are its busiest periods for these excursions.
Many customers are foreigners who spend longer periods on the Costa del Sol to enjoy the milder climate outside the main summer season. Others stay in Nerja, Torrox and neighbouring resorts before taking day trips into the countryside.
Some North American visitors travelling around Spain for several weeks also look for quieter destinations after visiting larger cities such as Madrid, Seville and Malaga. For the Axarquía’s smaller communities, this type of tourism offers another way to introduce visitors to the region beyond the coast.
Source: euroweeklynews.com
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