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The Playas
Mojácar Playa consists of over 5 km of bars, hotels, restaurants, shops and cafes. With its partly finished brandnew paseo it offers wonderful posibilities of walking, jogging, biking and connects the beach bars and restaurants harmonically.
On the other hand -due to a lack of central protection- this area of great natural beauty is slowly being developed for mass tourism, most controversially, the Macenas Project. There are others who have preferred a more intelligent route, building their houses using traditional materials and practices, making the most of the isolation from the local infrastructure by using solar power and alternative technology, encouraging visitors to enjoy this atmosphere to the full. Our very own development of the hamlet Campico de Honor is a good example of this type of respectful restoration.
The development of these beaches extends along the coast to Garrucha.
Garrucha is primarily a thriving fishing town and port. It also has a smart beach front; a marble paseo bordered by fish restaurants, and a clean beach making it very popular with tourists. Extremely so on market days (Fridays) and during fiestas (often). Garrucha has some very good fish restaurants, some on the beach itself. The town is well serviced, clean and bustling all year round. Many people prefer this to surrounding areas and more recently it is the preferred choice as place to live as more and more dwellings are constructed in the nearby and adjacent areas of Marina Playa (Mojacar) and Pueblo Laguna ( Vera).
The beaches continue in an almost unbroken line to Puerto Rey and Vera Playa, 6 km. of beach front, part of which is reserved for nudism, which at the moment is undergoing intensive urban development.
Three golf courses and two marinas are close by, and other attractions (water parks and health clubs), added to a relaxed suburban beach atmosphere give Vera Playa a level of suburban comfort popular with those who prefer a flat beach terrain to mountainous dwellings. Vera Playa is becoming an increasingly popular year round resort to live and take a holiday.
Palomares and Villaricos Ironically it was the Broken Arrow incident January of 1966 that focused attention on the entire region and encouraged the start of the ongoing wave of resettlement. The small port town of Villaricos and the extensive beaches near Palomares, were until recently overshadowed by developments in other areas. Proximity to golf, to its own marina port, to water sports, to the beaches of the area and the slightly lower prices have made this area popular choice for both holidays and for property sales in the last 5 years.
Further along the coast you pass on one side a highly interesting mountain ridge with its abondoned mining infrastructure, on the other side little bays with new settlements, little beaches and new restaurants, until you come to San Juan de los Terreros, another vivid beach village, belonging to Pulpí, which has attracted a lot of interest and is under massive holiday development. Following the beach road you get to Águilas, a wonderful historically grown harbour town.
50% of the population is non-spanish. The atmosphere, once considered bohemian, is now more cosmopolitan with many people bringing their culture and talents to work and live in area. During the summer months the beach is busy, but much less so than most other coastal resorts in Spain. For those seeking quieter and more natural surroundings, there are still 11km of virgin beach extending towards the Cabo de Gata natural park.
The Pueblos
Mojácar
Situated in the foothills of the Sierra Cabrera mountain range Mojácar Pueblo still retains the charm and tranquillity of times gone by. Its whitewashed houses spill down the steep hill which it encirles. Many of the streets are too narrow to let cars pass, and provide visitors with a distinctly peaceful environment in which to explore the many boutiques and bars.
In the summer the Mojácar area attracts visitors from all over the globe and is undoubtedly the most cosmopolitan place in the whole region. Its bars stay open until the early hours every night. Parking in the village becomes very difficult but a new multi purpose building is being developed to alleviate this problem. In the winter the village is quieter, although the country life and the village bars and restaurants sustain a pleasant and charming atmosphere.
Turre
Turre is a village with a long-standing historic tradition, located in the foothills of the wild and attractive Sierra de Cabrera. A few kilometres inland, in the dry Rio de Aguas valley, at the foot of the Sierra Cabrera. Turre is an agricultural town. The town has narrow streets and an authentic air - it has not been developed for tourists or visitors until very recently. There are now excellent restaurants in Turre. Retirement complexes and other luxurious developments are being built in the area adjacent to the town as it becomes a more popular place to live. Orange groves and traditional farms continue to thrive in the countryside around. From Turre roads climb into the Sierra Carera where other small settlements are also being re inhabited, the largest of these being Cortijo Grande and Cabrera, extraordinary and established developments with beautiful scenery and flora.
Rising steeply from the Mediterranean the highest point of the Sierra Cabrera is 962 m above sea level. Sierra Cabrera is an area of great ecological interest whose legal protection is being studied by the Junta de Andalucia.
There are several abandoned and partially re-habited villages in the mountains: El Dondo, Los Moralicos, la Alcantarilla, El Moro, as well as the villages of Cortijo Grande, Cabrera, La Carasquica, La Adelfa and Sopalmo, all of them extremely beautiful. Visitors may walk among architectural remains of ancient Moorish origin; labrynthine and each with its water balsa and bread oven. All of them are surrounded by a huerta where horticulture provided until only a few years ago total self-sufficiency amongst the inhabitants.
The area offers rural tourism, particularly popular outside the hot dry summer season (when proximity to the beach is preferred). Accommodation is available at all levels. The mountains are popular with hunters, off road enthusiasts nature lovers and ramblers alike.
Sorbas
Sorbas, is an extraordinary place, quite dramatic, surrounded by moonscapes, and whose houses overhang an impressing gorge, one of the ancient river bends of the Rio Aguas, which is famous for its canyons. Its slopes form a natural moat and are dotted with houses. The village has a great potter tradition, going back to Moorish days; and its still nowadays active workshops use the traditional ovens and make objects typical for the area.
Sorbas is a very vivid little “town”, a typical old Spanish village, but it has a flourishing economy and a quite “young” population. With its own theatre and an active Tourist Office it offers a lot of cultural events, entertainment and outdoor activities.
Near the village are the famous “Cuevas de Sorbas”, gypsum caves, which are open for the public in guided tours.
South of the town is the Parque Natural de Karst en Yesos where around six million years ago water erosion carved out subterranean chasms full of stalagmites and stalactites. The Arizona type landscape leads to Lucainena de las Torres, a cluster of white box shaped houses surrounding a red roofed church which has a narrow main street leading to it and is fronted by a tiny square. Through more Arizona type landscape snaking over the rugged Sierra Alhamilla lies Níjar, a neat white little town with narrow streets in its upper Moorish quarter designed to give maximum shade.
Bédar
Situated in the foothills of the mountain range of the same name, Bédar still retains the charm and tranquillity of times gone by. Both the panoramic views from Bédar and the countryside around Bédar are extraordinarily beautiful. In the mountains you will find groups of very pretty farm houses which are good examples of rural architecture. Almost every house in the village, with its steep, narrow streets, is situated in a privileged position with a great vantage point from which to look out over incredible views. The town is a favourite retreat for artists and those searching genuine beauty and tranquillity without total isolation.
In the winter the village is quieter, although the country life and the village bars and restaurants sustain a pleasant and charming atmosphere.
The area nearby is of particular interest to geologists . Bédar and El Pinar saw years of prosperity during the exploitation of iron and lead mines. A lot of impressing ruins are witnesses of that era and the towns around in, namely Los Gallardos and Serena.
Cuevas de Almanzora
Cuevas de Almanzora - famous for its caves, a lot of them modern accomodations of village people with representative entrance areas styled in marble - stands on the banks of the river Almanzora. Its rich heritage, which is reflected also in the village architecture- is a direct result of its long times of flourishing argiculture and mining gone by. On the outskirts of the town some very important archaeological sites containing the remains of several prehistoric areas have been found. Pulpi is an agricultural centre near Cuevas not far from the cost. Its beach area is San José de los Terreros.
Huercal Overa
Huercal Overa is the chief town of a thriving agricultural district; it is a vivid centre of administartion and busyness and is important because of its new, highly qualified hospital.
Carboneras
Carboneras is the typical sea shore village, with its roots in fishing, but then having got importance because of its industrial harbour connected to the power station and the gypsum export. Fortunately it has passed the phase of seeming to be only dominated by this economy. In the meantime it has got a very well-looked after beach and a new wide paseo with restaurants specialised in all sorts of lovely fresh fish, but also all the other typical Andalusian dishes and meat. This change has given new attraction to Carboneras and it has started a heavy building activity; some of these developments are not really benefits, because they destroy a beautiful wild rock coast, but Carboneras needed the improvement and it is now a lovely little village with all types of services.
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