EL Burgo is one of the white villages in Malaga Province

With a population of around 3,000 people mainly Spanish, nice warm friendly people. There a few expat's from various countryies dotted about the village but not many.

There are four small supermarkets, several butchers, bakers, fruit, wet fish and a diy shop, there is also a mobile hairdresser, 2 banks, 2 hotels, 2 hostels a mobile phone shop, plus several shops selling clothes. A post sorting office giving a daily local postal and delivery service, plus many little shops that are not much more than someone's front room

There are 20 bars and several restaurants, 2 police stations and 2 police forces one is the guarda civil and the police local, municipal swimming pool, a Wednesday market, plus all the kind of trades men or women you will ever need we even have our own school.

We have a doctor's surgery with several doctors whom speak several languages  plus we have our own ambulance we pay 30euros each a year so that the ambulance is always on standby, at fiesta times there are several bars erected which give all the profit to keep the ambulance service going, I wonder where in my old country (UK) they would even dream of giving such a service to such a small community, and yes we even have a lottery shop so you can have a lottery ticket for every day of the week.

There is also an IT Centre which is FREE to use, they open 10am-2pm 5pm-8pm Monday to Friday which is great, we have the internet at home but at a cost, so free and fast is great

The road up from the coast is the A366 which was renewed two years ago goes from Malaga to Ronda. You will pass many interesting villages on the way to El Burgo

Probably the first glimpse of the pueblo from any direction will contain the church and fortifications built into a small rocky outcrop. The castle and compact pueblo are perched on a hill within the river basin, surrounded by the district's larger hills and mountains

The entrance of the village is dominated by the post-Civil War triple arched bridge that carries the Málaga-Ronda road across the Río Turón. El Burgo's streets are narrow and visitors should park at the entrance to the pueblo, very near to the petrol station

The two maps of the village by the roundabout are well laid out and Pora's is the first local bar/restaurant they open at 5am for the local farmers and close when the last person goes home, you can sit outside and watch the world go by on an evening the men both young and old sit in the small garden area opposite the petrol station talking well into the night

On the south side of the main bridge by the pueblo that crosses the river Turón, is a track that leads upstream. Just about passable by car this is a circular route that takes approximately two hours to drive (not recommended in rainy season) or six hours to walk and emerges two kilometres further down the Malaga road (see La Fuensanta).
Running parallel to the river the fields to the left are filled with poplar and olive trees which soon leads onto dense woodland.

Two kilometres on, a series of reservoirs are used during the early summer for bathing. Numerous shoals of fish can be seen in the many pools and the river is dammed at a spot known as Dique de Fuente de la Zorra. Past the first lagoon an old mill can be seen and continuing upstream the valley closes in a semi-gorge. This stretch of river is considered one of the last virgin stretches of water in the province of Malaga, clean enough for otters to nest in the area. During August, the river valley runs dry past this point. Overlooking this spot high up is the gleaming white statue of Mirador del Guarda Forestal.

Here the track leaves the water course and passes a further two lagoons. This river valley was the course of the old Roman road. It is no longer possible to drive all the way to Ronda, although barely a mile of new road would complete the route. The track winds south until you reach Puerto de la Mujer, the 'Woman's Pass'. At nearly 900 metres above sea level, this is the highest point on the track. The track then leads down to the Fuensanta valley and the turning to the convent as well as the campsite of Las Sauces. This spot can be reached by a different route.
La Fuensanta & Los Sauces

The holy spring, en route to the ruined monastery, can be approached from below the pueblo, rather than taking the circular dirt track from the bridge. Look out for Km27 and a cross, which are very near to the turn off along the forest track. Following the Arroyo de la Fuensanta upstream, the track passes a tree nursery, used to replant state forest lands in the protected park. After three kilometres, there's a recreation area with a pleasant picnic spot and, beyond, the old mill and a tall Galician stone cross. For most walkers this is the limit but the route continues for a further hour, reaching another tall stone cross at a track junction.

This track leads three kilometres to the rather basic campsite of Los Sauces, with few amenities beyond a space for walkers to pitch a tent overnight. Most of these places do require a permit in advance. One of the most historic sites in the area is the Convent, which can only be seen from this point, as it is on private land.

Roads lead from the village of El Burgo to Sorretto, Ardales, Ronda and Malaga, there are plenty of small villages in between these towns except the road to Ronda. All roads give the traveller spectacular views of both the countryside and the mountains. There plenty of view points (Mirador) were you can see the view for miles around many of them have picnic areas were you can have your picnic away from the traffic.