Carrera Espinel

The Carrera Espinel

The Ronda audio-guided tour has you take the Carrera Espinel, nicknamed Calle La Bola, the liveliest pedestrian thoroughfare of the city, in the heart of the El Mercadillo district.

The lively street of Ronda

Nearly a kilometre long, the Carrera Espinel connects the Plaza de Toros to the Avenida Martínez Astein, lined with shops, cafés and traditional façades with wrought-iron balconies. It bears the name of Vicente Espinel, a poet and musician born in Ronda in the sixteenth century, a figure of the Spanish Golden Age. But for the inhabitants, it remains La Bola, a nickname born either from an enormous snowball that is said to have rolled down the street one winter day, or from an old game in which a heavy iron ball was rolled. Today, it is one of the nerve centres of Ronda: shop windows, tapas bars and the evening paseo attract inhabitants and visitors there in a relaxed and joyful atmosphere.

What there is to see

The Carrera Espinel offers a lively glimpse of daily life in Ronda, between shops, terraces and Andalusian façades. It is the ideal place to stroll, taste a local speciality or join the animation of the evening paseo. Connecting the arena to the rest of the city, it constitutes a convivial and authentic stage of the visit.

Practical information

The Carrera Espinel is in the El Mercadillo district, in Ronda. A pedestrian street, it can be walked freely on foot at all hours; its shops and bars follow their own hours.

Where does the nickname Calle La Bola come from?

Either from an enormous snowball that came down the street one winter day, or from an old game in which a heavy iron ball was rolled.

Who was Vicente Espinel?

A poet and musician born in Ronda in the sixteenth century, a figure of the Spanish Golden Age, who gave his official name to the street.