Ronda is a city in the Spanish province of Málaga. It is located about 100 km from the city of Málaga, within the autonomous community of Andalusia. Its population is 33,570. Ronda is situated in a very mountainous area about 750 m above mean sea level. The Rio Guadalevín runs through the city, dividing it in two and carving out the steep El Tajo canyon upon which the city is perched. Ronda was first settled by the early Celts, but its Roman and then Moorish rulers are reflected most prominently in its architecture. The forces of Catholic Spain took control of the town in 1485. Both Ernest Hemingway
and Orson Welles resided in Ronda for many years, and both wrote about its beauty, contributing to its popularity. Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls describes the murder of fascists early in the Spanish Civil War by being thrown from the cliffs of El Tajo.