If you’re like most Americans, your image of Spain is actually the region of Andalucía, famous for windswept landscapes, whitewashed hill towns, flamenco, and gazpacho. While visitors gravitate to the region’s big cities of Granada, Sevilla, and Córdoba, Andalucía’s “Route of the White Hill Towns” (Ruta de los Pueblos Blancos)—a charm bracelet of cute villages…

Sometimes, you know in an instant that you are going to really like a place. That’s how my wife and I feel as we gaze over the Andalusian plains up toward a towering plateau and, for the first time, feast our eyes upon the small Spanish town of Ronda. We don’t remember ever hearing of…