Around Casa Lorca

Villaricos is a couple of miles up the road from Casa Lorca. It is a small fishing village with two harbours. It is said to date back in its origins to the Cartagenans and Hannibal but no elephants have been seen there in living memory. It is a peaceful place where nothing much happens and nothing at all happens quickly. One harbour has an excellent little 'chiringuito' (beach restaurant) by the side of it and the other has a pleasant restaurant/bar looking out over it called La Esperanza. This translates as 'The Hope' after the name of the harbour.

Next to the village as you come into it from Casa Lorca is an ancient fort which claims to double as a tourist office although it never seems to be open. It overlooks a couple of small quiet beaches on one of which there is another good chiringuito.

If you travel on along the quiet coast road you will see various stone structures which are the remains of old silver mine-workings. This road runs for miles by the sea and off it are various tiny coves you can fish or swim from.

After about fifteen minutes you will pass through a pleasant large village on the sea called San Juan de los Terreros. On the other side is a lovely beach which is well worth a visit. It is known to all as Carolina Beach although there seems to be a new sign up calling it something different. Be that as it may it is small shallow enclosed bay of fine sand on one side and an open sandy beach on the other. Both are served by chiringuitos serving good basic and inexpensive food and drinks.

If you are a horse-rider you will see a small sign for Rancho Munera just before you get to the beach. Follow the rough track and you'll eventually come to what feels more like a ranch than riding stables. Here for 12 Euros an hour (as at January 2006) you can ride on trails in the hills or on the beach.. In the hills just behind Villaricos is the excellent Desert Springs golf resort. It is only a few minutes drive from Casa Lorca.

Garrucha is a few minutes drive from Casa Lorca. It is a small working fishing port. Down at the harbour is a large fish market where the catches are auctioned daily. Much of them seem to end up in the excellent fish restaurants which surround it. They are the main reason to visit. The local prawns, 'Gambas de Garrucha', are justifiably renowned for their succulent flavour and provide a significant input to the economy of the port as they are exported all over Spain.

There is a very good sandy town beach by which runs a rather grand little promenade which families stroll along in the evening before supper. If you like seafood this really is an excellent place to indulge and because Garrucha is a working port rather than a tourist trap you will pay a reasonable price. Sitting in the open air by the harbour eating the catch of the day takes some beating and you will be surrounded mainly by local people who think the same thing.

The town is only a few narrow streets deep back from the harbour and has the usual variety of shops that you would expect. Here you will find chemists and the post office, somewhere to buy a newspaper and all that sort of thing. It is also here that you will find the best supermarket, the Mercadona. It is large and stocks absolutely everything you need including vast ranges of fresh vegetables, meats, hams, salamis, cheeses and all manner of fresh fish and seafood.

Market day is Friday. The stalls stretch the length of the town and it is packed with shoppers and sightseers. It creates a colourful atmosphere to pass the morning in. Apart from all sorts of clothing and trinkets of various kinds there are plenty of stalls of fresh produce of all types which the farmers bring in.

Directly inland about five kilometres drive from here along an improbably narrow farm road is the magnificent Val del Este golf course. It is a golf resort comprising a hotel and high quality homes surrounded by countryside. As well as the course itself the facilities include a splendid clubhouse and pro shop, spa and golf school.

Mojacar is really two towns. The old town, Mojacar Publeo, which is a typical Andalucian hilltop 'white town' and Mojacar the resort which it overlooks. They are about 15 minutes from Casa Lorca. The name comes from the Arab 'Muxacra' and that in turn from the Roman 'Mons Sacra' which means Sacred Mountain.

Mojacar Pueblo is a lovely warren of old streets containing all sorts of shops, bars and restaurants. The views from it out across the Mediterranean and the plains and mountains inland are stunning and can be enjoyed from the terraces of many of its cafes and restaurants. On Sunday morning there is a flea-market which is well worth visiting. You will find all sorts of bric-a-brac and jewellery and there are a number of artists who exhibit there and offer their work for sale.

Mojacar the resort is a beach area of low-rise hotels, restaurants and beach bars. It is all very much on a human scale and is about five miles long and only a couple of streets deep as it is hemmed in by mountains - sacred and otherwise. The beach runs along the length of it. It is very much a family-holiday resort (as indeed is this whole area) and is not visited by that charming species of youth whose idea of fun is too much lager for lunch. Having said that if you're young and looking for night-life there are places such as Pasha's Club which is a huge tented affair right on the beach and where things get going about midnight. Our teenage children love it.

If you want shopping there is the Parque Commercial centre with pavement cafes and upmarket shops for clothing, furnishings, jewellery, pottery and the like which is worth browsing in. Going back to nightlife just opposite and right on the beach is the Mar et Salad Bar which is very popular but again if you're a youngster don't expect it to get going before late. For those of us of more mature years it's quietly pleasant until our cocoa-time.

For golfers the Marina Golf Course is just along from here. You play with a backdrop of the most spectacular views as it lies astride the mountain so that nine holes look out over the sea and nine holes on the other side have views of the countryside for miles inland. There is a pleasant small clubhouse to eat and drink in.

By the way, the pictures at the top of this section are of the locals dressed up for a fiesta - they don't normally wander around looking like that.

Vera is about ten minutes drive inland from Casa Lorca. It is a country town with a population of about 7000. Saturday is market day and because the surrounding area is agricultural you can find excellent produce. There is also an indoor fish and meat market which is very good value.

Apart from anything else if you are at all interested in sampling excellent Spanish cuisine there is one very good reason for visiting Vera. Hidden away near the church in the town centre is one of the best restaurants in the entire province.

The Hotel-Restaurante Terraza Carmona is presided over by Snr Antonio Gallardo and his family. Very few tourists seem to come across the place perhaps because from the outside it just looks like a fairly ordinary small hotel. However inside there is a long bar with a wonderful selection of tapas and a large restaurant which is excellent. Sunday lunch there drifts on all afternoon but that or weekend evenings probably need booking as all the local people are more than aware of what a good place it is.

The impressive Plaza de Toros was built in 1879 although the first reference to bullfighting in Vera is recorded in 1537. It fell into disrepair during periods such as the Civil War when all normal life ceased in this area. In 1990 a group of townspeople formed calling themselves the Vera Bullfighting Club and raised funds for restoration. The Plaza was re-inaugurated in 1997 and bullfights now regularly take place during the season. In 2002 a Bullfighting Museum was opened in the Plaza.

There is a sixteenth century monastery, La Victoria, and the church, La Encarnacion, has an attractive interior including an interesting Baroque altar painting. In the square outside sit locals of a certain age. There is also a small museum nearby which is worth a visit.

Cabo de Gata means Cape Cat. Goodness knows why as there are none to be found here. Be that as it may this vast area of hills, mountains and coastline was designated as a National Park in 1987 and possesses an arid beauty perhaps unlike anywhere else in Spain. It is in this area that the Clint Eastwood 'Spaghetti Westerns' were made.

To see it follow the spectacular mountainous road from Mojacar which winds along by the sea. The Daily Mail (30.6.06) said of this area 'This is undiscovered Spain and the landscape says it all' and that 'its great allure is the 45,663 hectare Cabo de Gata National Park - a haven for wildlife lovers with its beautiful birds and exotic plants'.

Its attractions include the lovely little village of Agua Amarga. Stop there for lunch at one of the restaurants right on the shore that was described by the Sunday Times (25.5.03) as being one of Europe's top twenty 'undiscovered' beaches. Afterwards if you feel the need to walk it off you can follow some of the paths through what the same article described as the 'magnificently desolate sun-bleached landscapes' of the Cabo de Gata.

Alternatively nearby lies Playa de los Muertos. This rather cheerfully translates as The Beach of the Dead but don't be put off by that. When you see the sign look down the cliff and there below you is a large and fabulous unspoilt beach. You need to feel fairly energetic to climb the steps down to it but if you do you will usually have the place pretty much to yourself.

The Cabo de Gata was featured on the Radio 4 travel programme Excess Baggage (7.1.06) as being a secret part of Spain unlike any other and the coast of Almeria generally was compared favourably with such places as the Costa Blanca and the Costa del Sol as not being as over-developed and full of tourists they are.

As you drive inland from Casa Lorca you will find yourself going into hills and mountains. The Sierra Cabrera range is directly behind Mojacar and in this area lies the valley of Cortijo Grande. In the far distance are the Sierra Nevada mountains beyond which lies Granada.

Almeria has the driest and sunniest climate in Spain but Cortijo Grande, flanked by mountains that rise to almost 1000m above sea level, is an ancient oasis in this traditionally arid region where olive, orange and almond trees flourish under cultivation fed from springs and wells in the limestone strata which is collected by the run-off from the mountains on the rare occasions when it rains.

If you visit this area in the spring and travel the valley floor or the mountain roads you will see splashes of colour everywhere from wild flowers which grow in profusion at that time of year. Indeed throughout the winter the area is green and it is like this until the heat of the summer sun dries out the land. If you are a walker you can wander here for miles.

If you are a golfer here is the Cortijo Grande golf course. In terms of natural setting it is probably the prettiest course in the area and lies in a lovely position on the edge of the valley in the foothills of the Sierra Carbrera mountains. Nearby is a pink farmhouse run by a couple of rather camp and very pleasant gentlemen which offers good dining.

If however you are just looking for lunch you can find your way on to one of the villages such as Bedar and sit out on the terrace of the Restaurante Miramar there which has a view right the way back across the valley and down to the distant sea. If you are there on a Wednesday you can look round the market as well.