Village of Fuente de Piedra

Fuente de Piedra is a town and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalucia in southern Spain. It is located 19 kilometres from Antequera and 73 kilometres from Malaga and has a population of around 3000 residents.

Over the course of the past 10 years the area has seen an influx of foreign residents and the town has attracted a relatively large British and other European ex-expatriate population for a town of such a small size. The small town is based in a dry basin amongst the Southern Spanish mountains and is probably most well known for the local national park and 'Laguna de Fuente de Piedra', home to one of the largest populations of Flamingo's in Europe.

The history of Antequera and the zone is rich and interesting and it is certain that the presence of the lake helped attract settlers to the area since prehistoric times. During Roman times, the lake was named "Fons Divinus" or divine spring, and salt was extracted here and flamingos were hunted for their tongues, considered to be a delicacy. In the early 19th century people believed that the lake water had medicinal qualities, so the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra was not allowed to dry out completely, unlike other wetland areas in Spain. In the 1930s a salt company that owned the lake undertook a campaign to reduce the flamingo population, which was threatening their salt production. Luckily, the lake's ecological value was publicised and it became a magnet for birdwatchers and naturalists.

Today the town is a typical part of Andalucia; a relaxed white village in the heart of some stunning natural beauty and of course olive trees! A small compact town popular with tourists and catering for all your needs. Local bars and tapas bars, restaurants, banks, medical centre, weekly market, hairdressers, shops, supermarkets, daily bread, fish and vegetable market, tobacconists, sports hall and municipal pool are all available.

As with most towns in the area Fuente de Piedra is extremely well connected. It is within 2 minutes of the A92 Granada-Sevilla motorway, a regular bus service in and out of Antequera, and the AVE high speed train station within 15 minutes, with links to Malaga, Cordoba and Madrid and a new link to Sevilla under construction. Finally Fuente de Piedra is one of the few small towns in the area that  has its own local train station on the Malaga to Cordoba line

There is only one church - that of the Virgen de las Virtudes - the patron saint of the village. It was built in 1891 in the neo-mudéjar style and has an interesting main façade, with a rather gothic like stain glass window over the main entrance.

Click here for more information on the Laguna de Fuente de Piedra

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