Almeria City
Almeria is a lively and modern city that co-exists with the old historical town. There are a good selection of art galleries, museums and shops. La Rambla, in the centre is a long avenue populated with squares, street cafes and children’s play areas. For the more active there is a popular sports marina.
The city has been influenced by many civilisations having been home to the Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Arabs and Christians during its history.
Evidence of the rich history of Almeria can be found through the city. There are many historical buildings and monuments well worth a visit in Almeria such as the Cathedral of Almeria in the old part of the city. It is heavily fortified having been built in the 16th century when the area was being raided by pirate forces from Turkey and North Africa. Its corner towers once held cannons to protect the port of the city. The architecture has both gothic and renaissance influences. Inside are a wealth of priceless artwork and the tomb of the founder of the cathedral the Franciscan Bishop Diego Fernandez de Villalan.
The Parish Church of Santiago Apostol in the Calle de las Tiendas is listed as a national monument. Built in 1559 its architecture is a synthesis of gothic, renaissance and mudejar styles.
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Antas
The mountains of the Filabres roll down in undulating slopes at their north eastern end and here on a fertile plain lies Antas. The river now usually dry has carved a ravine through the soft sandstone where birds nest in the holes in the cliffs. All around Antas orange and lemon groves stretch for miles and other fruits and vegetables are grown on this highly cultivated area. The local market is famous in the area for the quality of its produce and the local bars and restaurants offer good food at reasonable prices.
The old part of the town has charming streets and the old houses and many of the new houses have been built in the style of yesteryear with a view to retaining this charm.
The Hermitage of the “Virgin of the Cabeza” is dedicated to the Patron Saint of Antas and lies outside the town on the top of a hill. It probably dates from the 16th century and was built in the shape of a vaulted Latin cross. The main celebration of the locality is the fiesta of the Virgin of the same name and on September 8th every year her image is taken from the church to the Hermitage where she is offered floral tributes after the pilgrimage.
Another important event in the calendar of the people of Antas are the fiestas held around August 15th, then the town is ablaze with lights and the townspeople come out to sample the tapas served at bars set up in the square and to dance to the music of the pasadoble and rumba until the early hours of the morning.
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Bedar
An authentic Spanish village in existence since the time of the Moors and nestling into the lower slopes of the Filabres mountains approximately 15 kilometres inland from the coastal resorts of Mojacar Playa and Garrucha.
As you drive towards this picturesque mountain village Bedar becomes a focal point sitting astride a pretty hillside setting in a quiet and calm atmosphere and still retaining many original cottages which line the narrow streets and little alleyways.
All everyday needs are catered for including a Post Office, Chemist, Surgery and a supermarket. Start your day with a walk to the bakery to buy freshly baked bread or croissants. You will be inspired by the beautiful bougainvillea and pink and white almond blossom in January.
There are three good restaurants/bars offering a variety of cuisine so no need to go far to enjoy the ambience of this lovely village but at the same time providing an ideal base from which to explore this little known area of Spain.
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Cuevas del Almanzora
Cuevas del Almanzora is one of the oldest towns of the province lying in the fertile valley of the Almanzora River.
In the early 19th century silver was discovered in the Sierra Almagrera Mountains. The news spread like wildfire and Cuevas del Almanzora become home to many a fortune hunter. The town got its name from the many artificial caves in the nearby hills once inhabited by the miners. This was the start of an age of splendour for the town. The impressive legacy of this silver rush can be seen all around from the elegant family houses of the mining barons to the grand avenues, churches and statues. Many of the grand old houses remain and its well worth walking around the old town of Cuevas to gaze at the impressive bourgeois architecture many are still inhabited. A number of these can be found in the Plaza de la Constitucion and around town hall.
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Garrucha
Garrucha is a beautiful and lively fishing town that still retails much of its original charm. Over the last few years it has become a popular tourist destination. Its tourist slogan is “Garrucha, sun and seafood”. The town is famous for the quality of its large red prawns only fished in the local waters. Garrucha has a strong fishing industry its main source of income with a large port for both commercial and leisure pursuits.
Garrucha has a great selection of restaurants and bars with many excellent seafood restaurants found along the seafront serving the fresh catch of the day. They are supplied with fresh fish from the nearby port. If you find yourself down on the seafront at dawn you will experience the typically Mediterranean sight of a flotilla of small fishing boats setting out to sea. Each afternoon the fishermen host a daily fish auction at the quayside fish market.
Two buildings of interest in Garrucha are the Parish Church de San Joaquin and the Hermitage de la Virgen del Carmen the patron saint of Garrucha. Every year on July 16th the fishermen pass the chapel on their way to the sea in a spirited procession.
Garrucha is well known for its magnificent golden sandy beaches stretching as far as the eye can see. The beach opposite the town centre is the only blue flag in town beach in Europe. As you continue past Garrucha there are a series of superb recently developed beaches covering 8km.
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Los Gallardos
Los Gallardos is a small town found between the mountain ranges of Bedar, Los Filabres and Cabrera and the Aguas River. The town developed around the mines of east Bedar at the end of the 19th century. It is perfectly situated being just 30 minutes from Almeria airport just a few minutes from the motorway giving easy access to the rest of Spain. Yet it is only 10 minutes drive to the coast and three golf courses.
It is an ideal place for horse riding or for the more energetic there is rock climbing in the canyons. The town is also an excellent base for hiking and the Rio de Aguas and Rio Jauto canyons close by. There are walks around the old industrial sites in the Sierra de Bedar though beware of the open wells used by the old mines. Or take a walk down the Rio de Aguas canyon to experience the beauty of this fertile piece of land with its numerous water springs and visit the remains of two 16th century flour mills, the Higuera and La Cueva.
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Mojacar Playa
Just two kilometres away from the Mojacar Pueblo is its beach resort. The long uncrowded sandy beaches are one of its main attractions.
The beaches are seventeen kilometres long with a large part being designated an area of natural beauty. Only seven kilometres have been developed and they consistently earn European Blue Flag awards for cleanliness.
The beach resort has been developed over the past two decades. It is a new lively resort with much to offer with beach bars, local and international restaurants, discos, hotels and shops. The resort enforces a building restriction to prevent becoming a high rise concrete development. Residential buildings are restricted to two storeys and hotels cannot be built higher than four floors.
For those looking for an active holiday there is much to do. There is a full range of water sports including jet skiing, canoeing, water skiing, sailing, windsurfing and scuba diving. If you have a head for heights why not take a flight in a micro light over the beach at the Indalo Wings Micro light Centre or try your hand at paragliding. When you have done all this there is still hiking, rock climbing, biking or horse riding.
There is an 18 hole golf course at Marina de la Torre that offers spectacular views of the coast whilst enjoying a challenging round of golf.
For a spot of retail therapy try the Parque Comercial, a modern shopping precinct at the intersection of the seafront and the road to Mojacar Pueblo.
There is a local bus service that runs regularly between the beach and Mojacar Pueblo.
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Mojacar Pueblo
Mojacar with its hilltop village and beach resort offers both history, romance and space for relaxation and recreation.
Mojacar Pueblo is a picturesque sight of whitewashed buildings on steep and winding cobbled streets. Perched high on a hill in the Sierra Cabrera it overlooks the Mediterranean Sea. It was a centre of trade for the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans but the Moorish influence dating from the 8th century is most visible.
The place is a melting pot of cultures indeed it is said to have proportionately one of the most international blends of people in Spain. It is also a haven to people with an interest in the arts.
Many writers, painters and photographers have made Mojacar their home. Moreover it is a very popular tourist destination thanks to its unique charm, relaxed atmosphere and warm hospitality.
There are a variety of interesting boutiques and shops to tempt you or why not relax and have a beer or two in the many excellent bars and street cafes. Every Wednesday is market day and the streets are home to numerous stalls selling essentials to the locals.
There are a number of historical places of interest in Mojacar:
- La Fluenta (fountain) where people wash clothes with there feet in the natural spring water said to have flowed here since Roman times. It was restored in 1876.
- The Plaza Nueva with its splendid views of the neighbouring countryside. It also houses the Hermitage de los Dolores which is now a shop.
- The Parish Church de Santa Maria which seems to be a fortress it has a single vaulted nave and was begun in 1560.
- The ancient Castillo which dominates the village and is now an open viewing platform.
- Casa del Torrein the old customs house.
- Puerta de la Ciudad a semi-circular arch featuring the arms of the town. It is the original site of the main entrance to the village since Moorish times.
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Palomares
Palomares lies very near the coast to the north of Mojacar and the fishing port of Garrucha. It maintains a traditional Spanish feel because although many northern Europeans have now come to live here. It is an agricultural village and home to the many Spaniards that work on the surrounding land. It has all the facilities of a modern small town with a supermarket, chemist, bank, hairdressers and a school attended by children of various nationalities.
The ruined site of El Artial is only a few kilometres away and the rows of houses that were the homes of the miners that worked in the mountains behind, lie empty amidst vast fields of vegetables.
Palomares was thrust into the limelight on 17 January 1966 when a U.S. B52 bomber collided with a tanker aircraft in the skies above. Three H bombs fell onto the land and radioactive materials were scattered over the surrounding area. A fourth fell into the sea just off the village which took 80 days to recover. Thousands of tons of plutonium contaminated soil were removed by the USAF and taken for disposal in South Carolina. Compensation for the disaster was given to the inhabitants to preven them leaving the area and also to try and revive the area around Mojacar. Ruined properties were given by the Town Hall to the locals if they undertook to restore them.
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Puerto Rey
On the east coast of Almeria there is a place of unspoiled natural beauty where you will enjoy wonderful weather by the sea. Puerto Rey its large beach (Vera Playa) with fine sand has been awarded the Blue European Community Flag.
In Puerto Rey you will find tennis courts, a driving range, a gymnasium, beach bars, restaurants and many other facilities with the special attraction of Europe’s first nudist hotel.
The beach is approximately 2.3 kilometres long and 50 metres wide with fine golden sand and a few beach bars serving menus and tapas all day evenly spaced along the beach.
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Pulpi
Pulpi lies on the plain between Huercal Overa and the coast not far from the resort of San Juan de los Terreros. Like the towns of La Fuente, Benzal, Jaravia and Terreros it is situated in an area once dependant on iron mining and the remains of the industry abandoned in the middle of the 20th century are still evident.
Agriculture is now the main source of income and the surrounding fields are full of vegetables many of which are exported to the United Kingdom. Indeed if you buy melons from Tesco’s there is a good chance that they came from here.
This small town is on a crossroad and spreads in four directions along them. The road to Huercal Overa and along the almost straight road that runs from Los Lobos near Cuevas del Almanzora crosses the border into the province of Murcia and continues towards Lorca.
This is very much an agricultural town and although many of the houses have been renovated and new ones built on the whole they are simple homes reflecting the fact that the inhabitants of Pulpi work hard on the land.
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San Jaun De Los Terreros
Near to the border of Andalucia and Murcia lies San Juan de los Terreros, The beach is famous in the area because it shelves gently making it safer for families than many of the other beaches along the coast. Just to the north there are some delightful caves and inlets which also feature sandy beaches and shallow waters.
San Juan de los Terreros has been developed over the last few years and now there is plenty of accommodation for holidaymakers whether they require hotels or apartments to rent. There are all the facilities that you would expect including a new esplanade which has been attractively laid out with clumps of palm trees near the centre of the village. Nice looking wooden beach bars have been erected and there are some good restaurants and bars.
The castle was constructed in 1764 in the style of a coastal fort on a headland 150 metres that that stretches out into the sea and has been declared to be of cultural interest. The castle is accessible via a steep narrow road but is worth the walk as from here on a clear day you have splendid views up the coast as far as Cabo Cope and down the coast to the Castle off Roldan in Carboneras. Just out to sea lie two islands Isla Negra and Isla de Terreros both of which have been declared natural parkland and therefore protected.
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Turre
The small village of Turre with its whitewashed houses and flat roofs is of Muslim origin and stands on a hill surrounded by fertile land only 5 kilometres inland from Mojacar. Two architecturally interesting buildings in the village are the Hermitage of San Francisco from the 18th century and the Parish Church de la Purisima Concepcion built between 1861 and 1887.
Much of the municipality of Turre is in the Sierra Cabrera a remarkably beautiful mountain range. The mountains here are excellent for rock climbing or for the more sedate there are r many pleasant walks and the preserved remains of the old villages of Teresa and Cabrera to visit. The latter has recently been transformed into a modern urbanisation with good sporting and equestrian facilities. The residential development has quite an oriental feel to it. At the foot of the Sierra. Cabrera is the tourist development of Cortijo Grande which has an airfield and a golf course.
Turre has a variety of shops and there are numerous excellent Spanish owned restaurants and bars that are reasonably priced. The Friday market is well worth a visit.
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Vera
The walled renaissance town of Vera is one of the most important commercial centres in the region. Originally called Baria it was located by the sea near Villaricos. The Arabs moved it to the hill of the Espiritu Santo but a huge earthquake destroyed it in 1518. The tale goes that Queen Isabel climbed to the top of this hill fired an arrow and ordered that Vera is built where it landed. Vera as we know it was built in the 16th century in the urban renaissance style and enlarged in the 18th century.
The main square Plaza Mayor has several noteworthy buildings. The Church de la Encaracion (1530) flanked by a great tower was built as a fort to protect against the frequent Moorish attacks. Inside there are marvellous alterpieces remarkable in their architecture. To the left of this is the Ayuntamiento (town hall) built in the 16th century and renovated in the 18th century. Here on the ground floor is the Ethnographic and Archaeological Museum originally the barracks of civil guard. There are exhibits on history folklore and local traditions. The town hall also houses the municipal archives.
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Vera Playa
The seaside resort of Vera Playa covers the beach area between Puerto Rey and Villaricos. Interestingly it is said to be the place where Hannibal’s elephants landed in Roman times. In the 1980’s the area was practically undeveloped however recently this whole area has been undergoing intensive urban development and now boasts several hotels and many beach side complexes. The resort has earned the prestigious blue flag for its 8 kilometres of white sandy beaches: Las Marinas, Puerto Laguna, Pueblo Laguna, Puerto Rey and El Playazo the latter reserved for nudists. There is even an entire urbanization for naturists. The Vera Playa Club hotel was the first naturist hotel in Spain and opened in 1989.
Along with restaurants bars and shops Vera Playa also offers the only Water Park in the area Parque Aquatico. Here you can take a thrilling ride on the many flumes or sit and relax by one of the three swimming pools. There is an excellent selection of water shoots and slides and a children’s section with a play area and their own water slides. The park is open from May until the end of September. For your shopping needs there is the Puerto Rey development close to Vera Playa which has a smart shopping centre and supermarket . Vera Playa is now becoming an increasingly popular year round resort both to live and take a holiday.
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Villaricos
Villaricos is a small unspoilt fishing village both charming and tranquil which maintains a typical Spanish feel. The village is located at the foot of the Sierra Almagrera Mountains. Villaricos (rich village) derives its name from ancient silver mines which have their place in history as it is from here that Hannibal paid his mercenaries when he besieged Rome.
Along with fishing, tourism is its main source of income. Its superb climate makes it a popular destination with its mild winters and the summer highs refreshed by the soft breezes from the Mediterranean Sea. There are two beaches a pebbled expanse that borders the village and next door an unspoilt golden sandy beach. The latter is in a sheltered bay which although popular with the locals is never crowded. There is an excellent chiringuito (beach bar) where those catching the rays can get refreshed. The two harbours that sit at each end of the village linked by a broad promenade with numerours places to sit and contemplate. It is a favoured place for many an evening stroll by both by the local Spanish and visitors alike. Villaricos is known for its crystal clear warm waters and its fabulous diving and for those with their water wings there is a local diving school. Just beyond Villaricos a rugged coastline where you can relax in peace and solitude the rock pools and sand.
There are a good selection of restaurants and bars with food at very reasonable prices ranging from native Spanish to British pub food. There is a small market every Sunday selling a wide variety of goods every Sunday in and around the square.