Costa del Solitude uncovered

Jan 12 2008 by Andrew Flynn, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

NEVER follow the crowd. Particularly when they all turn right at Malaga Airport and make for the Sunset Strip of the Costa del Sol running along to Gibraltar.

Instead, turn left to the spectacular eastern side of the Costa.

To the serried hills and whitewashed villages of the Axarquia region, the remote and mountainous Alpujarras and the idyllic Valle de Lecrin.

This is the Costa del Solitude. On the old coast road, the foothills of the Sierras tumble down to the sea, breaking the coastline into hundreds of coves.

Between the sea and the mountains stretch glossy-leafed fields of avocados, loquats, mangoes and custard apples, which gives the coast its languorous “tropical” sobriquet.

Surprisingly, there has been no specific guidebook to the area. With East Of Malaga, award-winning author David Baird – a resident for 30 years – fills the gap splendidly.

Like all good travel writers, Baird has an eye for the odd and eccentric. On your way, you’ll discover the village with its own currency, the hell-raising Morris dancers called Verdiales, the festival of breadcrumbs at Torrox, the hiding place of the region’s last bandit, Black Pudding Day at Canillas and a 10th century Moorish minaret now leaning more than the tower at Pisa.

This is a little gem of a book. And perhaps the perfect eye-opener for jaded travellers who say “Spain? It’s all been spoiled, hasn’t it?”

l East of Malaga, by David Baird (Roundhouse Group) £14.99.