The berries were not ripe in January in Nerja.
The plant can scramble up to 10 metres hanging on with vicious thorns, though here only about 3 metres into great reed (Arundo donax). I would not recommend trying to weed it as the vines spring unpredictably when cut and wrap around digging their huge thorns into any unprotected flesh.
Also along the Rio Chillar I found this little seedling of a variegated form of the zarzaparrilla:
Zarzaparrilla comes from zarza (the bramble or blackberry for its thorns) and parrilla (the grapevine for its long vines growing up supports). A small unhappy zarza or blackberry (Rubus sp.) was also growing in the shade of some great reed.
