Villanueva del Rosario: Cave Routes, Sierra and Cultural Heritage

Villanueva del Rosario can be explored through paths, rocks, water, history and traditional festivals. The Ruta de las Cuevas is a linear route: it covers 5.3 kilometres from the Cooperativa agrícola San Juan to El Nacimiento – El Chorro; the estimated walking time is 2 hours and 5 minutes. Along the way, up to six caves and rock shelters can be visited.

Paths and Nature

The PR-A 395 Fuentes de Hondonero also begins at Parque de la Fuente Vieja in Villanueva del Rosario and is considered an easy route through the Hondonero landscape. The Vía Ferrata de Hondonero has a different character, with a 15-minute approach, a via ferrata duration of 1 hour, a low difficulty level, an elevation difference of 55 metres and a route length of 97 metres. Stage 11 of the GR-249 Gran Senda de Málaga is another linear route: it starts at Parque de la Fuente Vieja and ends after 15.4 kilometres at Plaza del Puente in Alfarnate.

The Sierra de Camarolos – Arco Calizo Central route begins at Llano Hondonero, follows a marked path through a pine forest and climbs towards the 1,444-metre-high Pico de la Cruz. Along this route, ibex can sometimes be observed climbing the steep rock faces of the 1,249-metre-high Pico Nacimiento. The Río Cerezo lies at the beginning and the Hoz del arroyo Marín at the end. Nacimiento de El Chorro lies on the slope of the Sierra de Camarolos and is the source of the Río Cerezo, a tributary of the Guadalhorce. Wooden tables and benches are available there for visitors.

The Sierra de Camarolos is designated as a Zona Especial de Conservación and includes Villanueva del Rosario, among other areas. The different route lengths, walking times and types of activity give each path its own format for planning a day out.

History and Townscape

In the municipal area of Villanueva del Rosario in Málaga, Cerro del Oso is protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural in the Zona Arqueológica category. The site is one of the few known sites in the upper Guadalhorce Valley attributed to the late to final Chalcolithic; it also has a Late Roman phase.

Cerro del Oso lies on the first foothills of the Sierra Gorda at an altitude of just over 900 metres, offers extensive views and controlled the routes between the coast of Málaga, the Colmenar-Periana depression, the Antequera depression and the areas of Granada. Archaeological remains from the Palaeolithic, Neolithic, Chalcolithic and Bronze Age have also been found in Villanueva del Rosario, including an early Roman settlement called Ovilia.

The townscape includes traditional architecture with well-maintained, well-preserved buildings. There are also numerous rural houses with kitchen gardens and gardens. The upper course of the Río Guadalhorce flows through Villanueva del Rosario; ash trees, poplars and black poplars grow along its banks.

Festivals, Cuisine and Traditions

The Ferias y fiestas de Nuestra Señora del Rosario in Villanueva del Rosario are designated as intangible cultural heritage with the characteristics of a festival, fair and civil-religious procession. The celebration in October includes a civil-religious procession with around fifty bearers of the statue of the Virgin Mary and women wearing mantillas.

A local culinary tradition is the long-established practice of gathering and cleaning wild-growing tagarninas. The Día de la Tagarnina includes a free tasting of tagarnina stew, hiking activities, the Subida a Hondonero road race, musical performances, children's activities, as well as stalls selling typical regional food and handicrafts.

The Feria del Emigrante is also firmly established in the events calendar. The summer celebration has existed for more than half a century and honours the residents who had left the town and returned during the summer holidays. Its programme includes sporting, child-friendly, musical, gastronomic and traditional activities, as well as concerts, orchestras, tribute shows and the customary release of young bulls, known as the suelta de vaquillas.

Arts and Events

The Rocksario Festival has been held in Villanueva del Rosario for more than three decades and reached its 31st edition in 2026. Every year, it attracts thousands of visitors from different parts of the province.

The ACRO’25 Festival took place on 21 and 22 November 2025 as its second edition in Villanueva del Rosario and included exhibitions, performances and participatory activities. These included the collaboratively created ceramic mosaic “Zahorí, donde nace un río” by the artist Rocío Rivas. It consists of around 1,500 ceramic pieces bearing the fingerprints of residents and was inaugurated at the Mercado Municipal.

The Chamizo de Noche Trail is a summer mountain race in Villanueva del Rosario. The 2026 edition was the sixth and included a hiking route for children in addition to the main race.

More Town Pages

More town pages: Fuengirola, Alhaurin De La Torre, Archidona, Vélez-Málaga, Sedella, Portugalejo, Benalauría, Sayalonga

For the higher-level travel overview: Málaga.