Spanish Troglodytes - The Cave Dwellers of Guadix

On the A92 between Granada and Almeria you'll come across Guadix, which is famous for the Jarra Accittanas. These ornate terracotta vases are used for wedding guests to carry their gifts for the bride and groom (no-one ever receives a TV for a wedding present in Guadix). Despite this unusual tradition and the pretty streets and buildings, the town is better known for its cave houses.

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You can find 'La Barriada de Las Cuevas' in the north of the town, and as you're walking around you half expect to see Barney Rubble leaving one of the small front doors, ready for a hard day at the quarry. The small frontage of the houses and the white square chimneys would lead one to believe that the homes are tiny, but think Tardis. The interiors can be quite large, some are even hotels. One great advantage of the cave houses is the year-round constant temperature of a much civilised 20 degrees centigrade, and when it's 40 degrees outside, you can begin to see the attraction. There are in fact around four thousand caves that form biggest inhabited cave settlement in Europe. Half the population of Guadix are Troglodytes.

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Guadix itself has been around a long, long time. Julius Caesar instigated the building of a settlement in order to mine the silver from the nearby hills, but it was the Moors who created the cave settlement. Before that, they developed an important silk industry, which put the town on a par with Granada, but in the fifteenth century they were expelled by the Christians and had no choice but to retreat to the hills and live in existing caves, or dig new ones. The ground in this area is easily excavated, so it was a natural thing to do, rather than brave the harsh outdoor elements. The name Guadix stems from the Arabic 'Guadh-Haix', which means 'River of Life' and the town was once an important centre of art and poetry. The cave museum is situated in the centre of Guadix, and is well worth a visit. Also of interest is the Cathedral which dates back to the sixteenth century. The Alcazabar, which was built in the eleventh century, is the best example of Moorish construction in the area, and from its towers a breathtaking view of the Sierra Nevadas is afforded.

Just down the road is the castle of Calahorra, which was awarded to a Christian knight as a reward for his deeds during the Christian re-conquest. It boasts an impressive courtyard made from Italian marble, which was constructed by Florentine craftsmen. Approaching the castle, you can't help but be moved by the sight of the round towers standing proudly against the Sierra Nevada mountains. Another impressive place to add to your list is the desert landscape around Benalua de Guadix. Combine this with a visit to the Banos de Las Alicun de Las Torres, and you have a fantastic day out right on the doorstep.

Fiestas play a big part of Guadix life, the main one falling on the weekend before Ash Wednesday. The summer fair takes place in the first week of September. In January the 'Romeria de San Anton takes place, when pilgrims ride nine times around the town on horseback. The Bishop gives mass on San Torcuato's day in May, before the remains of the saint are paraded through the town. Of course, Semana Santa is a very important time here, as it is throughout the whole of Spain, so there's a very good chance that your visit to Guadix will coincide with a fiesta.

Getting to Guadix couldn't be easier. The mountain tracks have been replaced by modern highways which link the town to other important centres such as Almeria, Granada and Malaga. There are international airports in both Malaga and Granada which have numerous incoming flights from Britain and the rest of Europe, so if you're looking for something just that bit different, renting a cave house could be right up your street. Many visitors take a day off from the beaches of the Costa del Sol and Costa Tropical to soak up the atmosphere of the Troglodyte village. The inhabitants of the cave houses are renowned for their friendliness and hospitality, probably because they're so cool while everyone else is steaming.

Spanish Troglodytes - The Cave Dwellers of Guadix

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CAVE Dwellers

A professional acquaintance shared the expression "CAVE Dwellers" with me. CAVE means "Colleagues Against Virtually Everything." Of course, CAVE Dwellers do not include those who rationally and respectfully oppose a particular change.

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If you have a vivid visual model of a very different future for you, your family, or your organization and you practice goal setting you are probably a change agent. You can relate to CAVE Dwellers-you've met many. When you contemplate leading a change, expect the CAVE Dwellers to come out early on-and in large numbers relative to the size of the group that would be affected, or thinks they would be affected, by the change. These opponents are usually not a minority, at least initially in a change process.

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Niccolo Machiavelli, the Italian politician and writer, forcefully characterized the intensity of negative reactions to possible change and the challenge of effecting substantive change when he said: "There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success, nor more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. For the initiators have the enmity of all who would profit by the preservation of the old institutions and merely lukewarm defenders in those who would gain by the new one."

My experience suggests that the dynamics of a successful change effort follow a stretched out "S" curve. Picture time on the horizontal axis and cumulative progress toward change on the vertical axis.

Change starts slow in the "can't be done stage," accelerates in the "now we see how to do it stage," and slows in the "we're still against everything stage." The last stage is dominated by the few remaining CAVE Dwellers.

When the change is successfully accomplished, almost everyone claims "I was for this from the beginning" and a few of these go on to say "and it was my idea." Meanwhile, a small group of change agents are already working on the next major change fully aware that a new group of CAVE Dwellers are ready to come at them.

CAVE Dwellers

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