Abul Beka was one of the most celebrated poets of the Moors in Andalusia. He was born in Ronda and also studied there. His most famous work was "Las coplas del maestre Rodrigo" in which he despairs over the fall of the Moorish Kingdom due to the Christian reconquest.
Abad Ibn Firnas was a proto-humanist, scientist and Andalusian chemist born in Ronda. In 852 he was said to have attempted the first flight (600 years before Leonardo Da Vinci), throwing himself from a tower in Córdoba with a huge canvas to cushion the fall. Luckily he only suffered minor injuries, with this flight resulting in him being considered the creator of the first parachute. He had many inventions, such as an armillary sphere to represent the movement of the stars, development of a rock crystal carving technique and being the first to use the Sinhind astronomical tables in the Iberian peninsula, this led to the development of later European science. A statue of Abad Ibn Firnas was built near the Baghdad Airport in Iraq, while a crater on the moon and a bridge in Cordoba are named after him.
Vincent Espinel was born on 28th December 1550 in Ronda. He had a great interest in music and was responsible for adding the fifth string to the guitar, called vihuela. This led to the eventual creation of the Spanish guitar. He also was influential in poetry, creating a décima which is a is a ten-line stanza of poetry, with the song form generally consisting of forty-four lines (an introductory four-line stanza followed by four ten-line stanzas). This is commonly known as the espinela due to it’s creator. The main pedestrian shopping street in Ronda is called Calle Carrera Espinel in his honour.
One of the most famous bullfighters of Spain, Pedro Romero was born in Ronda on November 19th 1754. He is considered to be the founder of modern bullfighting, having been known as the first matador to present bullfighting as an art form as well as a display of courage. Every September the Pedro Romero Festival in Ronda takes place, with a variety of bullfighting and festival events.
Born on September 27th 1855, Aniya La Gitana was a Spanish flamenco guitarist, singer and dancer. In Ronda she was something of a local celebrity, loved and admired for her wisdom and her way of life. In 1930 at the age of 75 she was one of the main attractions of Andalusian week at the Universal Exhibition of Barcelona in 1930. In her memory, Ronda has an annual flamenco song contest dedicated to her.
Blas Infante, born on 5th July 1885, was known as the father of Andalusian nationalism. He initiated an assembly in Ronda, that embraced the current Andalusian flag and emblem as national symbols, having been designed by Infante himself based on a variety of historic Andalusian standards.