HOME OF BULLFIGHTING IN THE ROUND

SPAIN. Reyes (Jose M.) A Collection of 7 Photographic views of Ronda,

9 x 6¾ ins, or the reverse, titled in the negative, mounted on an album leaf, Titled - No. 2 Fabrica de Harinas en el Tajo. No. 3 Fondo del Tajo. No. 7 Puerta de la Amocábar. No. 10 Barrio de las Peñas, Ollerius y Tenerias. No.15 Bajada del Tajo por las laderus. No.18 Hotel Reina Victoria sobre el borde del Tajo. 1 untitled view. c.1925

Ronda, in the Spanish Province of Andalucia is famed for its breathtaking views on cliffs above the canyon with the river Guadelavin dividing the two halves of the city with a magnificent bridge between them. The ‘Corrida Goyesca’ is a unique and historical bullfight that takes place once a year in Ronda in the Plaza de toros de Ronda, the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain. It was built in 1784 in the Neoclassical style by the architect José Martin de Aldehuela, who also designed the spectacular Puente Nuevo. It was a city beloved by Ernest Hemingway and Orson Welles.

Hemingway's novel For Whom the Bell Tolls describes the execution of Nationalist sympathizers early in the Spanish Civil War. The Republicans murder the Nationalists by throwing them from cliffs in an Andalusian village, and Hemingway allegedly based the account on killings that took place in Ronda at the cliffs of El Tajo. Orson Welles said he was inspired by his frequent trips to Spain and Ronda (note his unfinished film about Don Quixote). After he died in 1985, his ashes were buried in a well located on the rural property of his friend, the retired bullfighter Antonio Ordoñez.