Isidro García Sigüenza, a retired schoolteacher, decided to emulate the romantic British travellers of the 19th century and ride his donkey from Gibraltar to Granada. It took him a month and a few days.

Isrido’s trusty transport was 17-year-old Molinera , which he had found abandoned in a cortijo in Tarifa.

Isidro, who retired after teaching for 35 years in the Serranía de Ronda, has always been fascinated by those intrepid travellers from Britain in the 19th century and had read much about the Camino de los Ingleses, which is a route from Gibraltar to Ronda.

So, armed with Molinera, he first completed this route before extending it to its natural destination – the Granada of Washington Irving. The route between Gibraltar and Ronda was all along bridle tracks and cattle droves – not one square metre of tarmac along the way.

They set off from the frontier gateway of Gibraltar on the 13th of September. He took no maps but just relied on the old folk, farmers and shepherds of the villages along the way to guide him, who remembered the old routes of years gone by. And that’s how they progressed, plodding from one village to the next.

From Ronda they climbed the Valle of Abdalajís, passing through El Chorro in Álora. Next came Torcal de Antequera, Villanueva del Cauche and the southern part of Antequera. Keeping to the mountains they passed Alhama de Granada, Albuñuelas, the Sierra de Tejeda and Almijarra and from there Lanjarón, hoping to reach the Veleta and Mulhacén peaks, but bad weather made them head down to Padúl before heading for Monachil and finally, La Alhambra.

And as Isidro points out, an donkey is not only transport, but a travelling companion.

(News: Andalucia)