Coast of Almería

Almería´s Province, Rich Diversity of Scenery in the Sun

Almería sits on Spain’s south-eastern corner and is surrounded by the Mediterranean on its south and east coasts. Varied is the best adjective to describe Almería’s scenery: this is a land of snow-capped peaks – nearly half?? Sierra Nevada is within the province – with pine-clad slopes, arid desertscapes, gentle mountain ranges and, best of all, miles of sandy beaches. And better still, most of these beaches are almost completely unspoilt. The population is low and concentrated mainly around the capital and nearby towns so a lot of the time you can have most of this varied scenery to yourself. Some of its more popular areas are:

The landscape might be spectacular, but Almería’s star turn is its climate. Weather gurus describe it as subtropical Mediterranean, which roughly translates as one of Spain’s hottest spots as well as Europe’s sunniest – it boasts over 3,000 sunshine hours a year. Winters are short and mild – temperatures never drop below on the coast – and summers not too hot. Cloudy skies are a rare event and Almería also enjoys Spain’s lowest rainfall – ideal if you’re hoping to make a permanent escape from your brolly. Plenty of warming sun comes hand in hand with the feel-good factor and this is a healthy climate too as heat and low humidity are just what the doctor ordered for many ailments.

Costa de Beaches: The area known as the Levante Almeriense sits to the north of Cabo de Gata and runs up passed Vera, taking in most of Almería’s east coast – the Costa de Almería proper. Here are the jewels in Almería’s crown – the beaches. And miles of them, too. These golden treasures are still virtually undiscovered – hard to believe when tourists on the nearby Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol are fighting over spare grains of sand to put their towels on. But on the beaches at Mojácar, Vera and Carboneras, the sands are yours to be enjoyed. The secret is gradually getting out, of course, but this is one place on the Med where there’s still space for plenty more buckets and spades. Take your pick from the peaceful Playa de los Algarrobicos where part of Lawrence of Arabia was filmed, the quiet Los Barquicos with excellent scuba-diving or the more urban El Lancón.

Further north is Mojácar, the area’s oldest tourist resort and also one of its most attractive. This Moorish town – many of the original Arab buildings are still here - perches on a rocky crag and offers panoramic views of the sands, sea and scenery at almost every street corner. Mojácar’s residential tourists go back several decades to the 60’s when the town’s mayor, alarmed at growing emigration, offered free land to build on. European and North American painters and sculptors took him up on the offer and Mojácar now has a thriving artists’ colony. Down the hill and on the sands – Mojácar’s beaches run along 17km of the coast – Mojácar Playa is a busy resort, although development is low-build and hotels and villas manage to maintain a low profile.

Garrucha to the north is the area’s largest fishing port – fresh catches are auctioned daily on the quayside – and has a distinctive maritime feel to it in spite of the concessions to tourism in its marina and hotels. Inland is the agricultural town of Vera, surrounded by miles of fertile plains, mainly planted with citrus and fruit trees (and none under plastic). Puerto Rey is Vera’s beach resort and currently under expansion, but this follows the example of Mojácar and is low density. No towering blocks or balcony-to-balcony apartments here, just one long stretch of sand so stunning it’s given the status of ‘playazo’, a huge step up from a mere ‘playa’.

The small village of Villaricos is almost the last stop before Murcia and marks the beginning of a spectacular coastal drive along almost totally undeveloped coastline guarding a succession of secluded coves and yet more sandy beaches. If it happens that you are around in August and you love music festivals you might pop by Creamfields Festival Andalucía, international well-recognised party to move all bones and spirit.