The best things to see and do in Mojácar, a beautiful town in Almería

Mojacar is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful towns what can you visit in Spain.

And currently it is one of the top destinations for tourists traveling to the Almería province en Andalusia.

Precisely when the development of tourism in Spain, in the 60's, Mojacar It was the first place in the aforementioned Andalusian province that began to become a destination for tourists.

Curiosities of Mojácar and tourism in Almería

A fact that reflects this initial boom is that in Mojacar one of the first was built in 1963 Paradores when this national network had its great expansion process in that decade.

Jacinto Alarcon was the mayor who in the 60s began to promote the tourism in Mojácar.

One thing he did Don Jacinto to activate tourism was to give abandoned houses that were in the town to relevant people so that they would come to live there, or at least to visit it, as, for example, was the case of the then very popular journalist Tico Medina.

To highlight at this time the figure of Tito del Amo, a first American who arrived in the 60s and stayed to reside in Mojacar after founding the famous Tito's nightclub.

Already in the 40s, other Americans arrived in this Almeria town on behalf of Walt Disney looking for the birth certificate of a person named José Guirau Zamora.

This confirmed fact gave way to the legend that the aforementioned Walt Disney He was born in Mojácar and was the son of a washerwoman who emigrated to the United States, of which there is no real evidence.

Hotels and apartments on Mojácar beach in Almería

Perched on top of a hill, just 3 kilometers inland from the beach, in reality the Mojácar town It is not the place where you are going to stay when you decide to visit this area of ​​​​the almeria coast.

It will be in one of the numerous hotels or apartments that extend along the Mojacar beach where you will stay, and the town will be a place where you will go up to visit, either to eat, or to walk during the afternoon, and then have dinner.

Logically, during the high holiday season, you will find the town full of tourists, but it does not reach the saturation levels that unfortunately is already common to see in certain tourist destinations in Spain and the world.

This is undoubtedly due to the fact that throughout this area of ​​the Almeria coast there are no constructions of large buildings apartments and hotels.

The area of ​​the Mojacar beach characterized by urbanizations and residential areas with the characteristic two-story semi-detached buildings, with a cubic shape, white facades and terraces on the roofs.

British tourism in Mojácar in Almería

Currently, in all this coastal area of ​​Almería there is majority of british tourists second residence, which give it life throughout the year, beyond the tourist boom of national tourism during the summer.

Yes, about 10 years ago. Mojacar became for a season a destination of drunk tourism among young Britons.

This was due to the fact that some British agencies sold this town, which led to a profusion of cocktail bars and nightclubs.

The reaction of town hall establishing rigorous standards made that fad temporary.

The best things to see when visiting Mojácar in Almería

Now when you go to visit Mojácar You will see that it has managed to maintain the essence muslim people, with a style very picturesque, so that certain corners will remind you of beautiful towns in northern Morocco how Chefchaouen o Asilah.

And this feature has a historical root.

In 1488, already at the end of the reconquest, with the Christian advance, all the Muslim wardens in the area surrendered, except for the one of Mojacar, and then the Catholic kings They decided to send Garcilaso de la Vega to see if he could convince his warden now to surrender.

In the end he achieved it without any confrontation thanks to the agreement by which in Mojacar It would be about maintaining Muslim customs.

The best expression has been traditional costume of the mojaqueras, water bearer women with his head covered with a scarf and a clay jug on it to transport water from the town's fountains.

How to go up to visit Mojácar

For the special Mojácar location on top of a hill, to the point that the geographer Mohammed Al-Idrisi In the 12th century he said that it was so steep that you couldn't even climb it on horseback. You have two ways to get there. visit the town.

The most comfortable will be to arrive along the road to the parking lot which extends to the foot of the hill, from which you can go up in an elevator to the highest part of the town.

Now, if you feel strong enough, you can leave your car parked at the entrance to the lower part, specifically, in the area known as Mojácar Fountain, and from there walk up and enter the town through the old door that gave access to the interior of the historic walled enclosureo.

This historic gate of Mojácar which has been preserved since the 16th century and its sign is also in Arabic.

The Indalo, symbol of Mojácar

On your walk through the town you will be struck by the profusion of figures of the Indalo, especially as remembrances.

This shows a man with a bow and since the middle of the last century, it became a symbol of Mojácar and the province of Almería, the area having its origin in the cave paintings of the Cave of the Signs en Velez Blanco.

Within what was called indalian movement, at that time this figure began to be used to “scare away witches.”

Viewpoint of the Plaza Nueva in Mojácar

A key point on your walk through Mojacar is undoubtedly the Viewpoint of the New Square, with views of the Valley of the Pyramids, known for the various hills that can be seen, so that it looks like a landscape of pyramids.

The hill shown in the foreground is where the ancient Mojácar la Vieja until it was moved to the current settlement in the 10th century.

From there you must go up to the Castle viewpoint, from where you have views of the beach and the entire coastal coastline.

Of course, since Mojácar viewpoints You have a landscape in which you will see various towns, and which is not covered by the now characteristic sea ​​of ​​plastics of the fields of Almería that, for example, you can see near Níjar.

Statue of the Mojaquera in Mojácar

Another notable corner is the Town Hall Square, where is the church of Santa Maria, as well as an impressive ficus which was planted in the 19th century and Statue of the Mojaquera, in homage to the traditional water bearer women.

In the adjacent Parterre Square the old one was located Arab cemetery of Mojácar.

Finally, it is worth noting the Casa de la Canana Museum, ethnographic museum that emulates what a traditional Mojácar house, with real estate objects from the beginning of the 20th century, and very well set up to understand the customs of the mojaqueros.

What to see on the route from Mojácar to Agua Amarga

On your getaway or vacation stay in Mojacar, you will not only visit this town, but you will have the opportunity to see some other very interesting places in the surrounding area.

Thus, in addition to going to eat at the nearby port pulley, or enjoy the famous Vera nudist beach, without a doubt you have to take the route that leads you from Mojácar to Agua Amarga, already in the Cabo de Gata-Níjar natural park.

Granatilla Viewpoint

Once you visit all the urban areas that extend across the Mojacar beach, you will go up to the first interesting corner, the Granatilla Viewpoint.

From there you have a spectacular view of the coast that opens at the foot of the Mountain range of Cabrera, With the Algarrobico beach spotlight.

Playa de los Muertos in Cabo de Gata-Níjar

An essential stop in this route to Agua Amarga is Beach of the Dead.

Once you pass Carboneras, you will go back up the mountain and there you will find a parking lot where you can leave the car to walk down to this beach that has earned so much fame.

If you just want to see it, you can access the Viewpoint of the Dead, so that after walking about 350 meters, you will have spectacular views of Playa de los Muertos, which has a length of just over a kilometer and a half

In front of you and in the background you will see what is known as Point of the Dead, a place that receives that name because those who died in shipwrecks used to appear in this area due to the dominant currents of the coast.

Next to it, two large rocky masses stand out that are of volcanic origin.

En Carboneras The large industrial facilities with the imposing chimney of their thermal power plant will catch your attention, whose image contrasts dramatically with the landscapes of the natural park that surround it.

How curious, the name of Carboneras has its origin in the activity of carboneo which has been practiced in this area since ancient times, which at the time led to the disappearance of the native forest thereof.

Bitter Water in Cabo de Gata-Níjar

Since the aforementioned Viewpoint of the Dead, the road will descend towards Bitter water, an area of ​​small white houses with second home and rental apartments that are located next to a beach.

When I visited this place for the first time many years ago, I was left with the idyllic image of the traditional fishing boats on its sand, in a place where tourism had not yet arrived, and not even the streets were paved.

I have to tell you that Bitter water It still maintains part of this spirit.

Map: how to get to Mojácar

Mojacar is one hour north of the city of Almería, Along the Cabo de Gata-Níjar natural park.