CLIMB to the ruins of Bobastro, near the village of Ardales and the El Chorro gorge, and close your eyes. Imagine the place more than a thousand years ago when it was a near-impregnable fortress, defended by one of Spain’s most powerful and intriguing bandits. For this was the stronghold of Omar Ben Hafsun, a Visigoth nobleman who turned to banditry, rebellion and murder, but also earned himself a reputation as an early-day Robin Hood. At the peak of Omar’s powers, he ‘protected’ an area encompassing the whole province of Malaga and also parts of Cadiz, Granada, Almeria and Cordoba, and engineered one of the most far-reaching anti-Muslim rebellions in Spain’s history. He commanded an ‘army’ of more than 3,000 followers who, when not actively fighting, spent their time protecting the local populace from unjust taxation by the-then Cordoban rulers and preventing peasants from being taken by the Moors for forced labour. Omar is believed to have been born near the village of Parauta, where his family enjoyed a rich lifestyle among a group of fellow Visigoths. This tribe, originally Catholic and devolved from the Goths in Germany, had at one time controlled vast tracts of Western Europe – including most of Spain. They were instrumental in bringing about the fall of the Roman Empire and their history was far from peaceful. However, they had met their match with the Moors and had been forced to flee the country or bow to Byzantine rule. Omar’s family, like many others, had opted to convert to Islam in order to avoid punitive taxes and other financial restraints, and they had become the equivalent of ‘landed gentry.’ But breeding will out and Omar’s somewhat bloodthirsty nature began to emerge in his teenage years, and after an increasingly wild spell, he was finally banished at the age of 25 by his father after (allegedly) having murdered a neighbour. He joined a group of brigands, and was captured by the governor of Málaga during a raid. However, since news of the homicide had not yet reached the capital, he escaped with just a fine, but then judged discretion to be the better part of valour and fled to Morocco, where he worked briefly as a stone mason. Omar was not gone for long, though, and came back the following year to establish his base at Bobastro, which was then just a ruin. Three years later, he had become the leader of the rebels in the provinces to the south and west of the Emirate of Cordoba and was a considerable thorn in the side of the region’s Muslim rulers. He rebuilt the castle at Bobastro, and fortified the nearby town of Ardales. He also began to acquire castles and lands in a wide area -- not only in Malaga, but also in the provinces of Cádiz, Granada, Jaén and Seville. Most of his support came from Muslim converts who, like his own family, had adopted Islam for practical – rather than spiritual – reasons and who resented Moorish rule. As his rebellion took root and spread, he decided to move to a more centrally-located base, in order to respond more quickly to external threats. In 885, he moved his headquarters to the town of Poley, which is now known as Aguilar de la Frontera. This was not a resounding success and after a significant defeat by the forces of Abdallah ibn Muhammad at the battle of Poley in 891, Omar moved his headquarters back to Bobastro where he and his fellow dissidents continued to wage a campaign against Cordoban rule. Omar converted to Christianity, changing his name to Samuel, but this proved costly as he lost the support of many of his Muslim followers. He still had enough backing to be considered an annoyance, though, and when Abd-ar-Rahman III became Emir of Cordoba in 912, he instigated a policy of annual spring offensives against Omar, using mercenary troops. In 913 these troops took the city of Seville, and by the end of 914, they had captured 70 of Omar’s castles. However, the rebels fought on and even though Omar himself died in 917, his sons continued the campaign, albeit on a much smaller scale. But the coalition of rebels which Omar had formed began to disintegrate, and after his sons were killed or captured, the rebellion came to an end in 928 when Bobastro was finally taken. It was to be many more years – in fact, 500 -- before Spain was finally rid of Moorish rule but Omar’s rebellion was one of the first – and primary – steps in loosening the Muslim stranglehold. To view the ruins, follow the road towards El Chorro, then climb 300m up to this amazing 10th century fortified Moorish village. The 10th century Mozarabic church was carved out of the surrounding rock face in the Mesas de Villaverde. The Christian church, made when Spain was ruled by the Moors, was part of Omar’s fortress.

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