The narrow alley in Malaga's Axarquía where you don't want to meet someone coming the other way
It is considered one of the narrowest in the Andalucía region, while in Spain record holder is in the town of Urrués, in Zaragoza, at just 41.5 centimetres
Measuring just 56 centimetres (21 inches) wide at its narrowest section, the Alcuza alleyway in the village of Sayalonga in the east of Malaga province is believed to be the narrowest in the Axarquía and indeed Spain's Andalucía region.
It is one of the most visited places in Sayalonga and can be reached via Calle Cristo. The church in front of it serves as a clue.
In recent years it has been decorated and enhanced with a crochet awning, which provides shade, although the alleyway is only exposed to the sun for a few minutes of the day due to its narrowness and the height of the walls that shelter it.
At its narrowest part it measures just 56 centimetres wide
The first part of the alleyway is wider, but it gets narrower further along. This funnel shape could be the reason for the name of the alley, since the word 'alcuza', derived from Arabic, refers to a conical vessel. This hypothesis, however, is not confirmed.
What is known for sure is that this type of narrow streets are common in towns and villages of the Al-Andalus period. This is explained by Professor Valentín Fernández, who is currently finishing a book about Sayalonga and is the author of several books on medieval history.
Fernández also adds an interesting fact in the case of this alley, which he has been able to verify in the study he is carrying out for his forthcoming publication: the building on the left was a safe house where the inhabitants could shelter in the event of danger.
This alley is used today to connect the church of Santa Caterina with Calle Piaggine
There is not much more information about other alleys in the province of Malaga, but it could be assumed that this is the narrowest of them all. However, according to the Guinness Book of Records the narrowest alley in the world is located in the German city of Reutlingen and is 31 centimetres wide.
In Spain, the narrowest alley is in the town of Urrués, in Zaragoza, at 41.5 centimetres. However, In Andalucía the narrowest at 50 centimetres wide is Calle Zanjilla, in the Granada village of Soportújar, known today as the 'village of witches'. Valentín Fernández provides another case, also in the Alpujarra, in the town of Mecinilla.
The alley in Sayalonga today connects Santa Catalina church with Calle Piaggine and the nearby San Cayetano chapel. Sayalonga is also well known for its 'round cemetery', although curiously, the cemetery actually has eight sides, the same as the bell tower of Santa Catalina church.
