At one time in southern Spain there were quite a number of cave dwellers. Caves were ready-made, warm, safe shelters which have proved popular from the Stone Age to the present day. In Andalucia, where there was a large landless class of peasants, caves were a cheap alternative to building a cottage which many could not afford to do and had no land on which to build anyway. Most mountain villages had their share of troglodytes – people who lived in caves. Often cottage fronts were built onto the caves giving the dwellings the appearance of houses in the mountainside.

What makes Setenil de las Bodegas different is that practically the entire town is built into the cliffs of a sandstone gorge. Houses, shops, cafés, hotels, bars and businesses are built into caves. There are Cuevas del Sol (sun caves) and Cuevas del Sombra (shadow caves) depending upon their locations; and cuevas under the overhang.

As the name suggests, Setenil de las Bodegas, a typical Andalucian ‘white town’, was once renowned for its wines but in the 1860 an insect infestation destroyed thousands of vines throughout Europe and Setenil had to look elsewhere for its livelihood; which today includes olive oil, chorizo sausages, pork and tourism.

Setenil lies a few kilometres north of Ronda in Cadiz Province. The town can be reached from Ronda by taking the MA428 to Arriate and then the CA4221 to Setenil. Alternatively it can be reached on the CAP422 from Olvera. The Spanish have been re-numbering their roads but these road numbers were accurate at the beginning of 2007.

It is not wise to try and drive a car through the town centre; in fact in several places it is forbidden. However be warned that the streets are so narrow in some places that the wing mirrors of a modestly sized Subaru had to be folded back to allow the car to squeeze through.

The tourist information centre (+34 956 134 261), in the old Town Hall, has huge wooden carved doors like an old bodega and inside there is an intricately patterned wooden ceiling in Moorish style and an inscription commemorating the final conquest of Setenil by the Christians in 1484.

A river runs through the foot of the gorge and there is an old Moorish castle standing on the top of cliffs; a reminder of the seven hundred year occupation of the area by the Moors. Not much of the castle remains intact; just the minaret and a water tank. Close by the stands the first Christian Church, the Gothic late 15th century Iglesia Mayor.

One of the best views of the Church and fortress can be had from Calle Jaboneria in the bottom of the river valley beneath. Soap Street, as it translates in English is so called because the women of the village used to wash their clothes in the river at this point, and because, so it is said, soap was made here during the 18th century.

The houses under the cliffs in this street and its neighbour, Calle Herreria, are still inhabited, and have been, according to the tourist office, since pre-history. Legend says that many of the cave interiors are still blackened by the soot from the fires of history. At this lower level it is said that the poorest people would have lived, the goatherds and the swineherds and the labourers.

This is not a place for the claustrophobic. A little further round it is possible to walk through the dark overhanging cliff where some of the houses have been turned into artesan and souvenir shops. The tourist office recommends local wine, olive oil, honey, jam, and ceramics as ‘good buys.’ There are also a couple of lively bars but the huge rock overhang is somehow oppressive.

The upper square, reached only after a seriously steep climb, is lighter and brighter and lined with orange trees. Someone has painted a house with black and white zigzags. It is a relief to sit with a cool beer in the sunshine under clear visible blue skies and it is possible to forget the houses are built into solid rock for a few minutes.

Reality kicks in again with a quick visit to the toilet. Two sides of the tiny toilet cubicles are solid uncut rock and with that comes the unsteady sensation of clinging onto a cliff face again. Although Setenil is a truly beautiful and very quaint town perhaps those who like the wide open spaces should give it a miss.