Álora from el castillo
Most visitors to southern Spain will have heard of The White Villages of Andalusia. Álora does not usually appear in lists of pueblos blancos. even though it should be clear from the photo above that it is rather white in appearance. White painted houses are part of the charm of the region and the tourists like them a lot.
Why are they painted white? The obvious answer is that white reflects heat and so helps to keep the houses cool in the hot summers. Some say that the cal (whitewash) which was used for many years has antibacterial properties. Perhaps it's because they look nice and attract tourists. I'm not an expert.
Gerald Brenan who lived in Yegen in the 1920s said that the houses there were just mud coloured. Heritage workers who have looked at layers of paint on buildings say that most whitewashed houses date from after 1920.
Miguel Primo de Rivero, who was Spain's dictator from 1923 to 1930, is said to have decreed that all houses had to be painted white. His family were possibly whitewash manufacturers and as most Spanish people do as they are told they started to whitewash everything they could lay their hands on to avoid trouble. Little did they know that six years later General Blanco would seize power and half of them would be in big trouble just for being Spanish. I repeat, I'm no expert.
Imagine my surprise when I heard today that a neighbour of mine has been 'sanctioned' by the ayuntamiento (town hall) for painting his house in 'el casco antiguo' (historic quarter) red.
| Un vecino es sancionado por pintar de color rojo la fachada | ||||
| La próxima semana comienzan los trabajos de pintura en la fachada de este domicilio situado en el casco antiguo | ||||
El lunes, 17 de febrero comienzan las labores de pintura, estos trabajos serán ejecutados a solicitud del consistorio y después se le impondrá el pago de los servicios de limpieza y pintura al propietario de la vivienda, a través del patronato de recaudación. El vecino ha sido sancionado reiteradas veces, ya que no cumple con sus obligaciones de respetar colores básicos y armónicos en el exterior de su vivienda.  |
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14/02/2014 17:25:15. GABINETE DE PRENSA. AYUNTAMIENTO DE ÁLORA | ||||
The town council will arrange for the paint job and charge it to the owner who has been told many times to paint it white. Apparently the red house did not comply with the obligation to respect the area by using basic and harmonious colours.
The only red house that I know of in the casco antiguo is this one which readers of this informative organ will remember had balcony problems during Semana Santa (Easter) last year.
A rather red house
Hasn't he suffered enough?
The Perotes (locals) here used to say that you could tell which houses were occupied by 'guiris' ( foreigners) by the colour of their door and the big satellite dish on the roof. A mucky brown colour is still de rigueur but blue is often the British choice. Even 'casa Sánchez' displays a splash of colour round the windows.
Mrs. Sánchez who is an expert on these matters said 'It'll take a bit of covering up that will´' (a few coats of paint will be needed.)
February 19th. 2013
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