Ratchet

Carratraca is a municipality in the province of Málaga, Spain, located between the northeastern foothills of the Serranía de Ronda (Alcaparaín, Baños and Aguas mountains).

It is at the same time one of the northern gates of the Guadalhorce Valley and border territory between these two regions and Antequera, with which it connects via Ardales. Its landscape is of very steep slopes in the Sierra de Alcaparín and somewhat smoother in the Sierras de Baños and Aguas, covered with pine forests and scrubland and the occasional olive grove where the relief allows it. At the bottom of the valley that runs through the municipality from north to south, and through which the Las Cañas stream runs, the countryside is made up of orchards on the banks of the streams and cereal crops and olive groves between these and the beginning of the saws. In the urban area of Carratraca, the architectural complex formed by the house of Doña Trinidad Grund, converted into a Town Hall, and the tower next to said house stand out powerfully. From the terraces of this complex, beautiful panoramic views of the surroundings are obtained.

The strategic situation of these lands, between two populations with a rich history, such as Álora and Ardales, had to favor the presence of man in them since ancient times. In the vicinity of the Arroyo de los Pinos, in the Sierra de Alcaparaín and in a chasm 40 meters deep, a Neolithic burial has been located, as well as cruciform-type schematic painting and ceramics with incised decoration.

The curative properties of the sulphurous springs that flow from Carratraca already drew the attention of the Romans, who left copper and silver coins with effigies of Tiberius, Claudius and Caesar at the site known as "La Glorieta& #34;, and a late Roman necropolis in Los Maderos, near the stream of Las Cañas.

Toponymy

Carratraca comes from the Arabic carr-altrak: "cleaning of impurities".

Demographics

As of January 1, 2010, the population of the municipality amounted to 886 inhabitants, 450 men and 436 women.

Charratraca demographic evolution (municipal) between 1900 and 2010

Population of Law (1900-1991) or resident population (2001) according to population censuses of the INE. Population according to the 2010 INE Municipal Register.

The total population in 2016 was 750 inhabitants. 386 men and 367 women.

In 2018, in the last revision of the municipal register, the figure is 748 inhabitants, 391 men and 357 women.

History

The origin of the municipality of Carratraca dates from the XIX century. Don José Salgado wrote a monograph in 1725, where he stated that in this area there was only one house, known by the name of Cortijo de Aguas Hediondas. However, the bathtubs found on the slope of the spring, the tombs and ceramic remains discovered in different parts of the town and, above all, the remains of a wall, suggest that these places were inhabited during the period of Roman domination and, Abandoned later for unknown reasons, they were covered with thick holm oaks.

Carratraca was formed under the protection of its sulphurous waters. According to tradition, the discovery of the therapeutic properties of the waters was made by a beggar, Juan Camisón, so named because his only clothing consisted of a long, oversized nightgown so that he would not be bothered by the sores that covered his entire body. This man arrived at a farmhouse located next to the spring to implore the charity of its inhabitants, and observed that a goatherd was throwing water on the animals that had ulcers on their skin, and after a certain time they healed, so he decided to bathe himself and after several immersions, he also healed.

On a more documented basis, it is known that in 1817 there was already a doctor in charge of the study and analysis of the water and the sick.

The municipality of Carratraca was created in 1821 by separation from Casarabonela. The first session that appears in the Minutes Book was held on December 14, 1836.

Of the events that occurred in the town, the creation of the Spa stands out for its importance, which in view of the large public that came to take the baths and the state of abandonment in which the primitive pools were found, by Royal Order of May 9, 1847, it was agreed to auction the construction works of the Spa, whose projects and budgets were approved by the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando.

In 1970 Carratraca made headlines in the national press when studies began on the ground to locate diamonds. Finally, after carrying out extractions, it was found that the exploitation was not sufficiently profitable.

On August 29, 1980, Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, French politician and anti-Semitic activist, collaborator with Nazi Germany during World War II, second commissioner for Jewish Affairs of the Vichy Regime, died in Carratraca.

Monuments and places of interest

The parish church of Nuestra Señora de la Salud is one of the buildings of architectural interest although it dates from the early XIX century. It was built on the site of an old hermitage and the interior consists of three naves separated by semicircular arches, with wooden frames and hemispherical vaults to cover the presbytery and the alcove where the image of the Virgen de la Salud is located. The Town Hall building is also interesting for its neo-Arabic style in which the two superimposed galleries with horseshoe arches stand out. A very unique construction is the small bullring with a polygonal floor plan and excavated in the rock of Sierra Blanquilla. This is the place where the residents of the town, turned into occasional actors, stage the Passion at Easter.

The sulphurous water spa deserves a special mention for the traveler. The enclave arose around the fountains and a hermitage from the XVIII century in the municipality of Casarabonela, from which it was separated in 1821. Twenty-six years later, the spa was created in a style as appropriate as neoclassical, very typical of the golden age of this type of establishment in the mid-19th century. Inside the building that houses the spa -a stone mansion with a neoclassical façade whose project was approved by the Royal Academy of San Fernando-, in an interior patio with a ceramic plinth, the small pavilion surrounded by white marbled marble columns stands out..

Other places of interest outside the urban area are the Cuevas del Duende and the Alcaparaín shelter, as well as the Gorda and Los Murciélagos chasms (necropolis).

Culture

Festivities and traditions

Among the most unique festivities, without a doubt, we must highlight the festival of the Andalusian spell] on the second weekend of September and the staging of the Passion at Easter, in which more than a hundred converted residents take part in actors. The Corpus Christi procession and the decoration of streets and houses with flowers, mantillas and artistic objects is also an ancient tradition, like the night of San Juan, in the early morning of June 24.

The town's patron saint festivities, in honor of the patron saint, the Virgen de la Salud, take place around August 15.

Crafts

You can find artisan objects and tools made in esparto, wood carving and iron forging and forge.

Gastronomy

Carratraca's cuisine is based above all on strong dishes with pork and kid products, and its exquisite pastries. In its gastronomy, it is worth highlighting typical dishes such as:

• Bizcochos: pastry.
• Cubiletes: pastry.
• Butter threads: pastry.
• Oil torches: pastry.
• Almond chips: pastry.
• Callos de Carratraca
• Chivo to the pastoril
• Jarrete to the campera

Economy

Evolution of outstanding municipal debt

Graphic of evolution of Living Debt of the City of Carratraca between 2008 and 2019

Living debt of the City of Carratraca in thousands of Euros according to data from the Ministry of Finance and Ad. Public.