According to the Hunts, most of their guests (ranging from a group of girls on a hen party to a family of four, and a pair of honeymooners) have proved unwilling to leave Abubilla. They tend to remain slumped in a hammock slung between two cork trees, laid out on a bamboo sunbed under a young olive, or lounging on the luminous green strip of lawn that encircles the pool.
The heat and drought of this summer has been a factor. At the beginning of August, in temperatures close to 40?C, I had no inclination to walk into the village, or climb the rocky Grazalema mountains which loom over Abubilla -- even if you can see as far as Gibraltar from its summit.
Instead, we drove from Cortes de la Frontera, along the precipitous roads that wind through the neighboring national parks (choose from spectacular rock formations or endless cork forests).
The walled town of Ronda, with its Moorish baths and dramatic gorge, is only a 40-minute drive away. And en route you can escape the heat, by literally plunging underground. The Cueva de la Pileta (grottos and ancient cave paintings, lit by kerosene lamps) and Cueva del Gato (giant stalactites, tunnels and ice-cold rock pools) are within a 10-minute drive.
Much nearer to home, Cortes de la Frontera is a standard Andalucian white village, with narrow streets, a smattering of bars and restaurants and plenty of local color. During an early evening drink with tapas, we watched teenagers doing wheelies on motorbikes; a bullfight on television in a bar; and a wedding procession -- which ended in a party that, according modern Spanish tradition, was held in a half-finished section of a construction site.
Alternatively, you can eat with the Hunts: three-course dinners (prawn salad with home-grown olives, monkfish and roasted vegetables, pear and almond tart) cooked by Henrietta in her yurt kitchen and served with wine and candlelight under the stars.
The word "hotel" is not perhaps, entirely appropriate, but the Abubilla experience is packed with nature's little luxuries: the pink glow of mountain scenery at dusk, the high-altitude fresh air (which even in August, cools at night to a comfortable duvet temperature) and the sound of tinkling goat-bells. And although the primitive toilet takes a bit of getting used to, I can't recall a loo with a better view.
Getting there:
Where to stay: Abubilla Yurt Hotel (yurthotel.com), at Cortes de la Frontera, is open until the end of October (and from March next year).
Yurts cost NT$2,900 per night or NT$17,500 per week B&B.
Getting there: Taipei transit to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific to London and Malaga, Spain, with British Airways, in August.
Total cost, NT$36,000, through Lahoo Ticketing Tour.
Call Emily: (0933) 718 196.
Getting around: Hertz in Malaga (hertz.co.uk) offers a week's all-inclusive car hire from NT$8,851 in September.
Further information: Spanish Tourist Office (spain.info)
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