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Municipality of Campillos (Andalusia, Spain)

Málaga Province

image by Blas Delgado and Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 16 Oct 2005

Introduction

See also:

Málaga Province (Andalusia, Spain)
Andalusia (Spain)
Spain

Introduction

Basic data:

Size: 150.68 Km²
Population: 7,760
Residents known as: Campilleros
Monuments: Church of Nuestra Señora del Reposo, Hermitage of San Benito, Governor’s Castle.
Geographic location: In the Antequera plain, 70 kilometres from Malaga and 30 from Antequera, at 540 metres above sea level.
Tourist information: Town Hall, Avda. Santa María del Reposo, 7. 29320.
Phone: 952 722 168
Fax: 952 723 105

The municipality of Campillos is situated in the western area of the Antequera region. Most of the low-lying land has been planted with olive trees and cereals, while the higher regions are scrubland and low mountains. There are some lakes around Campillos, and despite being dry for the greater part of the year, they have been declared Reserva Natural by the Environment Agency of the Junta de Andalucía. The most important of these lakes are the Dulce, the Salada, the Redonda, the Capacete, the Marcela, the Cerrero and the Camuñas.

The urban centre consists of old houses and modern buildings of recent construction. Among the outstanding buildings in the town are the 16th century Church of Nuestra Señora del Reposo and the hermitage of San Benito, patron saint of the town, built between the years 1578 and 1569. The streets are wide, and open into public parks and plazas. Campillos is ideally placed in terms of communication between Antequera and Ronda, and this has favoured the place enormously over the centuries.

Pre-historic archaeological remains show that people have lived here for a very long time, and some of the items they left behind show that Campillos was indeed an important place. Iberian/Roman remains in the form of coins and ceramic pieces have been discovered in the El Castillón area, and we know that the Visigoths were here too from three small spires found in El Moralejo, at present the College of San José. In spite of all these finds, there is still no documentary evidence of life here until the 15th century, after the area had been conquered by the Christian forces. At that time Campillos was administered from Teba, until it was granted judicial autonomy in 1680.

In our own day Campillos enjoys a buoyant economy based on agriculture, pig farming, poultry farming and the leather industry. The reputation of the leather workers in Campillos has spread far and wide, with quality articles such as clothing and suitcases made in the town on sale all over the country.

Blas Delgado, Oct 16 2005