History and Location of Almuñecar

Almuñecar is a small city on the Costa Tropical in Andalusia in Spain.  It has a population of about 27,000.

We took We took a bus from Almeria to Almuñecar And even though it's only 130 kilometres it took us nearly three hours. We ended up going on a very scenic drive in and out of all the small coastal villages and the views down the windy mount and were just spectacular.

Even though it is a small place we had so much fun and discovered many fascinating things to see and do.

It is known for its beaches – there is 19km of coastline.  

The Phoenicians first established a colony in Almuñecar in 800BC and this developed for over 600 years into an important port and town with its large fish salting industry that was a major supplier of Greece and Rome.

The town then prospered under Roman rule.

The large fish salting factory was discovered in the 1970s. the factory needed constant supply of running water, so in the 1st century AD the Romans built four miles of conduit and five aqueducts. four of those aquaducts are still used today, 2000 years later.

With the decline of the western Roman Empire in the 5th century came the Visigoths however it remained relatively romanized until 755 it when it was under Arab rule.  Arab surrendered at Almuñecar in 1498.

Artwork and Statues of Almuñeca.

One of the first things you see as you drive into Almuñecar is a huge roundabout and inside that roundabout is this massive blue and white octopus and it's covered in the most beautiful mosaic tiles. It is 5 metres wide and three metres high. the roundabout is very difficult for large vehicles to navigate around.

The octopus looks amazing in the day but when you see it at night with all lit up with bright lights it's just spectacular.

They are nearly 40 beautiful mosaic benches dotted all around Almuñecar and they are covered in white and blue tiles as well and the tiles are hand painted.

The local beaches of Almuñecar

Our apartment in Almuñecar was right on the beach. The local beach has lots of water activities and sun lounges and umbrellas for hire. It's a very popular beach for the locals where people gather in groups and each day we went to the beach there was a group of older men that all brought their chairs and umbrellas and played cards and dominos for hours. The beach was mainly pebbles and that made the water much clearer because there was no sediment. We spent hours on the beach watching the world go by under our umbrella. We didn't need to leave for lunch as there was a beach BBQ with fresh fish right on the beach.

There is a wide promenade that goes all the way along the edge of the beaches. It is a beautiful walk along the promenade where you can watch lots of water activities, or have a mojito at a local bar right on the sand.

The beaches that are closer to the main part of town are wider and flatter and have more sand than pebbles.  The further you walk there are more restaurants and bars right along the beach. 

It is a great place to stay if you like to spend time at the beach, where it isn’t too touristy and you can eat and drink on the beach as well.

Old Town of Almunecar

The Old Town of Almuñecar is full of winding pedestrian only streets and quaint little alleys.  It's not a big Old Town but it is very pretty. It was built on the main hill in town and overlooks the sea and it is capped by the majestic San Miguel castle.

Most of the current structure in San Miguel castle dates from the Arab era of the 8th century through to the 15th century. There is a very impressive front entrance with a drawbridge and big circular turrets. It has a pavilion which houses a museum of Almuñecar’s history. You can read about the castle’s progression through the years and how each culture lived there. There are also videos of re-enactments of what happened during those times and what the periods were like.

The castle is on the highest point in the city, so the views are amazing.

Caves of the Seven Palaces

This museum has seven stone built alcoves linked by a central passage.  It is built underground as all the space on the coastal hill was taken up by the town.  It was created by the 1st century Roman Rulers of Almuñecar.  It is thought that it was built as a platform for a grand building such as a temple or palace.  It contains the oldest writing discovered anywhere on the Iberian peninsula.

Fish Salting Factory

The Fish Salting factory remains were discovered in the 1970’s. They are located at sea level below San Miguel Castle.  The factory began its activities towards the end of the 5th century BC with its most popular time being in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.  You can see all the areas where the fish were processed and walk around the factory remains.

Botanic Gardens

Right next to the Salting Factory remains is a small, but beautiful botanic gardens. 

It is full of sub-tropical plants, Syrian sculptures and Province Houses.

There are over 200 species of trees and plants from around the world.

The sculptures in the gardens are made from marble and are gifts from Syrian refugees after Almuñeca was open to them to reside from 2005.

The province houses each represent a one of the Provinces of Andalusia.  They are like little artisan shops, studios and workshops.

One of the houses is full of handmade Spanish guitars.  The owner, an old gentleman, sits out the front playing his guitar. It is a special thing to see and hear.

 Food and Wine of Almuñeca

There are many restaurants, cafes and bars to choose from in Almuñecar.  You can eat right on the beaches in seafood restaurants. 

We had a seafood platter at one of these restaurants and watched the most amazing sunset that we have ever seen.

Another scrumptious meal was, again with a beach view, at Arbol Blanco  (The White Tree) restaurant which specialised in sizzling duck with port and mustard sauce – YUM!

One of the things we were told we should definitely try for breakfast in Almuñecar was churros with chocolate.  Its basically a long doughnut that you dunk in liquid chocolate. Sounds delicious – but it wasn’t for us.

Fun Times in Almuñecar

We certainly had a lot of fun and enjoyed our time in Almuñecar.  One of the fun nights was when we were walking home after a long dinner with many wines, and we found a bar that had mojitos on special.  We walked in and realised it was a karaoke bar, called the Karaoke Cave, and we just couldn’t walk away.

As you can imagine, I (Leanne) just had to do a song.  Everyone else was singing Spanish love ballads, so it was time to rock it up.  The whole bar joined in with clapping and cheering while I sang Old Time Rock n Roll.

Then to try and top my performance, Lyle decided to do a salsa dance right in the middle of the street. (Both these performances can be seen in the Almuñecar story highlights on Instagram at Beach Travel wine).

Favourite place to have a wine (or other drink) in Almuñecar

Lyle’s favourite place was Restaurant Calabre on Herradura Beach watching the sunset.

Leanne’s was having an ice cold cerveza grande (large beer) on the first day on the beach.

You can listen to the full podcast episode here. Or click on the player below.