TOLOX

The villa of Tolox is situated at the foot of the Blanca and Parda sierras, set in the centre of the Natural Park of Sierra de las Nieves, with the Torrecilla peak at 1919 metres altitude and the ancient Spanish fir and gall-oak forests.

The inhabitants of Tolox, some 3100, live off the orange and olive crops and above all from the great influx of visitors to the spa of "Fuente Amargosa" from the last century, especially recommended for bronchitis and kidney diseases.

Neolithic remains have been found in the Tinaja cave, in mid sierra, but the present site of the town seems to be from Phoenician times, without forgetting the Romans presence and of course the Arabs, from which the structure of the streets is conserved as well as many irrigation ditches and terraces for crops.

Tolox has one of its most outstanding traditions in the fair of San Roque, patron saint of the town, which is celebrated between the 14th and 18th of August, with the renown "Cohetá" in which more than 60,000 rockets are let off during the course of the procession. On the 8th of December they celebrate the festivity of the Inmaculada Concepción or "Day of the Girls" with a charivari. Other activities which are followed with great interest are the Flamenco singing festival which is celebrated in January and the Folklore dancing festival in mid June.

The handicraft works are related to life in the sierra: esparto grass, palm, and pita fibre, or wood carving with which many household good are made. There are also works in saddlery. Among the gastronomy there is the traditional confectionery with rusks, patties, and oil cakes, date bread, cold meats, kid stew, fried pumpkin or pickled pumpkin with oranges and cod soup. And let us not forget that they produce and excellent mosto, unfermented grape juice.

Tolox basic information

Sierra de las
Nieves