Andalucía's wonderful food festivals have attracted the attention of prestigious Conde Nast Traveler magazine, who named southern Spain as THE place to be this autumn. As organisers are putting the finishing touches to wine, cheese, ham, bread, seafood gourmet events, budget airlines are getting ready for the autumnal flocking of foodies. It's a highlight for many people who own holiday homes in Marbella, a last short break before winter sets in and the busy Festive Season begins.
For the Love of Rabbit, Chestnut, Seafood and Ham
The chestnut is going to be celebrated at the Chestnut Festival in Pujerra, which lies in the Serrania de Ronda region, famous for its succulent chestnuts. About 50 different variants of chestnut dishes will be on offer to visitors from 31st October to 1st November this year.
In the neighbouring community of Parauta, citizens are hosting a 1,200-year-old rabbit festival on 14th November. At the Maroween Festival locals of the small village of Maro, near Nerja, will showcase their speciality, the sweet potato, roasted in their jackets (boniatos) from 31st October to 1st November.
Nearly 10,000 visitors flock to Campillos every year, where on 8th November the Jamon Festival will celebrate all things "ham".
In Ojen near Marbella, the Toston Popular party will, as always, be held on the first Sunday after All Saints Day, falling on 8th November this year, uniting the roasted chestnut with hundreds of visitors, who come to have fun and listen to the indie music performances on offer, while munching through tons of chestnuts.
Meanwhile, in Yunquera, which lies in the Sierra de las Nieves, locals are recovering from the after effects of the 7th annual wine and chestnut festival, which took place from 24th to 25th October.
Foodies have flocked to Andalucía since Antiquity
It's not just the Malaga Province that revels in food and wine festivals. The Province of Cadiz offers Spain visitors a multitude of gourmet experiences, too.
Castillo de la Duquesa, an 18th century fortress overlooking a settlement that was once a large Roman fishing village, has probably many tales to tell of the specialities guards consumed while on duty there. Foodies have come to this stretch of the coast since antiquity, as excavations proved in 1989, when a bath house site to the south of the castle was unearthed.
Where the Guardia Civil Barracks once loomed next to the castle, ancient Romans had constructed the industrial part of their settlement. Today, this part of the castle complex is a car park; however, in ancient Roman times, locals had a thriving fishing industry, as fish past tanks, water conduits and salt pans prove that were excavated here.
At the 12th century Castillo de Castellar, a fortress originally built by the Moors, the inhabitants of the small, white-washed village Castellar Viejo that sits within the ancient walled fortifications may have been replaced by German artists who bought permanent homes here and opened art galleries, but stroll up the narrow cobbled streets and your nose will soon detect the delicious scent of food wafting down the hill. The fortress is now a hotel and restaurant, making it one of the very rare places where a medieval castle is still inhabited.
And it's well worth trotting up the steep hill in Castellar de la Frontera - not just because of the Mesón-Restaurant, but because on a clear day the views stretch all the way to the Bay of Algericas, the Rock of Gibraltar and the African coastline.
Within a couple of kilometres hungry travellers can indulge in another culinary walk. The village of El Puerto de Santa Maria is well known for its succulent scampi, served in a paper bag and accompanied by a glass of Fino. Practically every terrace seems to serve something mouth-watering and fishy: fried octopus for example or lobster, and the speciality of the region: pancakes with shrimps and piriñaca-salad.
Conde Nast Traveler's report on Andalucía's manifold food festivals will no doubt have whetted the appetites of many US readers - be sure to stop of at a couple of food and wine festivals this autumn, if you happen to be visiting your holiday home in Marbella for a short break.