a. Viâ Bobadilla and Utrera.
STEAMBOAT from Gibraltar (Commercial Pier) to _Algeciras Puerto_ in ½
hr. (fare 1½ or 1 p.; passengers with through-tickets have their
luggage conveyed gratis).—RAILWAY from Algeciras Puerto to _Seville_,
214 M., in 10½ hrs. (54 p. 20, 40 p. 20, 24 p. 85 c.); carriages are
changed at Bobadilla, La Roda, and Utrera. Rail. Restaurants at Ronda,
Bobadilla, and Utrera. There are through-expresses from Granada to
Seville (thrice weekly, in 7¾ hrs.), but they do not correspond with
the Algeciras trains.
_Algeciras_ (Hot. Reina Cristina, first-class; Hot. Anglo-Hispano; Hot.
Marina; Brit, vice-cons., W. J. Smith; pop. 13,300), a small town on the
W. margin of the bay of that name, is a winter resort of English and
American visitors. The famous Morocco Conference (comp. p. 96) of 1906
was held in the Casa Consistorial or town-hall.—Local steamer to Ceuta,
see p. 102.
The train for Bobadilla, soon after starting, crosses the rivers
_Palmones_ and _Guadarranque_. To the right we have a final view of the
Bay of Algeciras and the African coast. Beyond (8¾ M.) _San Roque_ we
traverse extensive plantations of cork-trees (p. 171). 26 M. _Jimena_;
36 M. _Gaucin_, in the _Guadiaro Valley_, the station for the little
town high up on the hills, 5½ M. to the E.—We next pass through the
romantic _Guadiaro Ravine_, and through many tunnels under the slopes of
the _Sierra de Ronda_, and skirt the foot of the barren limestone slopes
of the _Sierra de Libar_.
65½ M. =Ronda= (2460 ft.; Rail. Restaur.; Hot. Reina Victoria,
first-class, pens. from 17½ or 20 p.; Hot. Royal, in the new town,
English, pens. from 12½ p., good; pop. 19,000), one of the most
interesting towns in Spain, occupying a plateau girdled by grand
mountains. From the station we follow the Carrera de Espinel to the W.
to the Calle de Castelar, the main street of the new town, and the
_Plaza de Toros_ (bull-ring). From the railed-in platforms of the _Paseo
de la Merced_, a park a little to the N.W. of the plaza, we enjoy a fine
view, with the foaming _Guadalevin_, or Guadiaro, some 660 ft, below us.
The _Puente Nuevo_, crossing at the S. end of the main street (p. 56)
from the new town to the old town, affords a splendid view of the
*_Ravine_ of the Guadalevin (_El Tajo_, ‘the cutting’), about 330 ft.
deep and filled with the spray of the river. The bed of the latter is
strewn with rocks and the abrupt sides of the gorge are thickly
overgrown with cactus.
The train descends between olives and cork-trees into the valley of the
_Guadalete_ (p. 59), and then cuts through the last N. spurs of the S.
Andalusian Mts.
110 M. =Bobadilla= (1240 ft.; Rail. Restaur.) is the junction for
Cordova (see R. 9), Granada (see R. 9), and Málaga (R. 11).
We follow the Cordova line as far as (124½ M.) _La Roda_ (comp. p. 72;
change carr.), and then turn to the W. to (147 M.) _Osuna_ and (166½ M.)
_Marchena_, junction of the Utrera and Cordova line (p. 59). We next
cross the _Guadaira_ (p. 59) and pass (184 M.) _Empalme de Morón_. At
(194 M.) =Utrera= (Rail. Restaur.; change carr.) we join the Cadiz and
Seville line (R. 6 b).
The train now runs to the N.W., mostly through fertile land (oranges,
pomegranates, olives), and crosses the Guadaira.