Ronda

How not to starve as vegans in Ronda

We knew that Ronda was going to be a challenge but after being vegan in Seville we thought it would be manageable. Holy shit!! How wrong could we have been.

It was a nightmare and despite reading a ton of other blogs and searching Google, I either found that the recommended restaurants had closed down or didn’t actually offer anything vegan. Yes, it seems that Spaniards consider HAM to be vegetarian!

So here’s our tips on how you don’t need to starve as a vegan in Ronda.

Ronda restaurants
Ronda rooftops

Ronda Restaurants

Most of the Ronda restaurants to the east of the bridge (in the very old section) don’t even offer any vegetable options at all. Everything on the menus contains meat and fish. Oh and cheese. There’s cheese with everything and usually mayonnaise too!

There are literally just a handful of Ronda restaurants that offer vegetable dishes.

  1. Hotel Montelirio is the ONLY Ronda restaurant that has an actual vegetarian menu. The meals it serves are full size rather than tapas.  It also has a balcony and a view to die for as you eat under the heat of an oil-filled lamp! The wind can be a little blustery so I’d recommend taking a warm layer to have to hand.
  2. El Morabito is a tapas restaurant that has a number of veggie options. These are smaller dishes rather than main meals. It is tucked into a corner of the old town once you’ve crossed the new bridge.
  3. Toro Tapas is also a tapas restaurant and they have a number of vegetarian options which can be made vegan. If you eat here, remind them that you don’t want aoili or mayonnaise on anything. You must make this very clear otherwise they smother it on.
  4. El casino pizzeria is based in the main square and their pizzas are huge. They will make it without cheese (sin queso) if you ask.
Ronda restaurants
Hotel Montelirio pasta

Supermarkets within the old town

If you spend any length of time in Ronda, your best and cheapest bet would be to buy food from the supermarkets and prepare and cook it yourself.  Just remember that driving within the old town is often forbidden so what you buy will have to be carried!

  1. Dia is the main supermarket in the old town and they have quite a lot of vegan friendly items.
  2. La Tienda is a small shop in the centre of the old town that has a good number of vegan items, including milks.
  3. Supermercado GV is a general supermarket with a small selection of vegan friendly items.
Ronda restaurants
The view from the restaurant in Ronda

 On the outskirts of the new town

None of these need any explanation, they are bigger supermarkets that offer a range of vegan friendly items as well as large scale fruit and veg.

  1. Aldi
  2. Supersol
  3. Carrefour Express
  4. Mercadona

Fruit Markets

  1.  HiperFruta has two large shops on the outskirts of the old town. It sells a brilliant range of fresh and tasty fruit and veg.

Opening hours

Most shops are closed on SUNDAYS, some have half opening hours on Saturdays and some have siesta opening times too. You can check opening hours of all food shops in Ronda HERE.

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Being vegan in Ronda is certainly a challenge. There are not many places and we visited them all. See here for our recommendations.