La Alcazaba, an essential in your weekend in Almería
We are ready to spend the weekend in Almería capital. In addition to his iconic Zapillo Beach and its famous range of tapas, the city offers many curious corners for lovers of music (from a john lennon statue to one Manolo Escobar Square ) , the cinema (has its own Hall of Fame ) wave history (from its Muslim vestiges to the so-called iron architecture ) .
FRIDAY:
5:00 p.m. Like that of so many travellers, our visit to Almería begins at its train station, next to the bus station. It has been operating since 2005, and next to it we will soon discover the façade of the Old Railway Station, from the end of the 19th century, topped by the Paul Garnier clock.
The interior walls are adorned with frescoes by Luis Canadas, turning the property into one of the most beloved of Almeria. Nearby, the English Wire is one of the main exponents of the iron architecture that developed in the city at the beginning of the 20th century.
It is an old ore loading dock built next to the Levant Pier. It ceased service in 1973 and, although there are several plans to reopen it as an entertainment center on the table, it can currently only be seen from the outside.
El Cable Inglés, one of the benchmarks of what is known as iron architecture
6:00 p.m. We moved to our accommodation in the nearby Zapillo neighborhood, one of the most emblematic and authentic. Former place of residence of fishermen converted today into a working-class neighborhood, it has on the corner between two of its main avenues (Cabo de Gata and Juan XXIII) the Manolo Escobar Square.
And it is that, as in the ejido, the singer from Almería (originally from Las Norias de Daza) has here a small tribute to him, which in this case is nothing more than a small anecdotal place to sit down to eat an ice cream or wait for the taxi to take us to the center when the heat discourages going on foot.
But what has brought us to Zapillo is his urban beach, just five minutes on foot. Officially named as San Miguel Beach/ Las Conchas/ Zapillo, it is approximately one and a half kilometers long and about 40 meters wide.
It has all the services (showers, toilets, rescue...) and, although it does not have the spectacular nature and savagery that we find in the vicinity of Cabo de Gata, a dip will leave us as new and we can spend the afternoon lying on the towel. It is also the ideal place to watch the Fireworks reflected on the sea if we catch the festivities of the Virgen del Mar at the end of August.
Old Railway Station of Almería
8:00 p.m. along the boardwalk Carmen de Burgos (local writer) we will see all kinds of street stalls in summer (from clothes and water toys to book stands), as well as of course a good handful of ice cream shops, restaurants and (what we have been looking for) terraces for tapas.
In all the bars in Almería you can choose the tapas that you are going to have, at the rate of one per drink, although you can order extra tapas by paying a supplement. The menu, plagued as it is necessary to fried fish and local gastronomy, we will find it on a letter or blackboard.
We opt to sit under the awning of the Antarctica cafeteria-ice cream parlor, where we will discover for dinner what the cherigans, typical Almeria dish made from toasted bread cut on the bias, spread with alioli and seasoned with ingredients of your choice: tuna, ham, cheese...
Fish is the main dish in any Almerian menu
SATURDAY:
10:00 a.m. Today it's time to explore the city center well, so there is no better way than to look at the Central Market, considered the geographic center. Authentic place to see the daily life of the neighbors, in their fishmongers we can also buy fresh fish and take it to their bars to cook it for us.
Its building, designed by the architect Anthony Martinez Perez in 1892, is another great exponent of iron architecture. Beatles lovers have a must-see photo next to the john lennon statue, located at the door of the Hotel Torreluz.
Carmen Mudarra She finished it in 2007 on a 250 kilo bronze piece, in which she sculpted the musician brandishing a classical guitar as a tribute to the days he spent in the Andalusian province while he was making his first steps as an actor in How I Won the War.
The Central Market, designed by the architect Antonio Martínez Pérez in 1892
11:00 a.m. We also stop at Constitution Square (or Old Square), old Muslim souk that will surprise us by the arcades of the ground floors and the balconies of the two heights that they support.
In its center stands the Monument to the Martyrs of Liberty, while the facade of the town hall (which has been under renovation since 2010) has a carillon that sings the popular melody of the Fandanguillo de Almería every quarter of an hour.
We finally reached one of the jewels in the crown of Almería: the citadel, one of the most important Muslim ensembles in our country. It has been chosen as a location for numerous films (Conan the Barbarian, Cleopatra, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...), and also appeared as Dorne in the sixth season of Game of Thrones.
Admission is free and inside we can take a wonderful walk through its gardens and fountains, as well as reaching the best views of the city in front of the seaport. The visit is usually complemented by having tea and an Arabic sweet at the Almedina Tea Shop, located opposite.
The Alcazaba, one of the jewels in the crown of Almería
1:00 p.m. But if what we feel like is a cold beer and a hot tapa, one of the most charismatic places in the city is the ** Casa Puga, ** which has been offering all kinds of snacks since 1870: sausages, tuna mojama, boiled potatoes, artichokes with anchovies, grilled kidneys...
However, to eat we let ourselves be advised and we visited in the same street the Jovellanos 16, restaurant that has taken its address as its name. A modern and cozy place where, in addition to a very correct menu of the day, we can taste tapas as original as the red tuna burger and tomato tartar, the crock'n'roll or the pringá kebab.
4:30 p.m. The walk continues to lower the food around the Almeria Cathedral, built as a fortress in the 16th century by order of Bishop Fray Diego Fernández de Villalán. With Christian, Marian and pagan motifs, its façade is the work of Juan de Orea.
The interior, current episcopal seat of the diocese of Almería, can be visited by paying admission. Like the nearby guitar museum, of avant-garde design and recommended for lovers of music in general and the six strings in particular.
It is dedicated to Antonio deTorres, 19th century Almeria luthier considered the father of classical and flamenco guitars as we know them today.
Facade of the Cathedral of Almería
passing the Sanctuary of the Virgin of the Sea (patron saint of the city) and the annex Convent of Santo Domingo de Guzmán it didn't take long to get to the Almeria School of Arts.
It is worth peeking inside its sunny inner cloister, often packed with students. His preciousness would captivate Steven Spielberg himself, who chose him to shoot one of the scenes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: that of the Rolls-Royce Phantom II.
Urban legend tells that three steps were loaded trying to get him inside, and that in return he paid the kids for the end-of-year trip.
And speaking of cinema, our cultural route culminates in the Almeria Walk of Fame, Since 2012, it annually honors a renowned director or actor who has filmed in the province. Imitating Hollywood Boulevard, stars like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Ridley Scott, Terry Gilliam, Omar Sharif or Max von Sidow.
Catherine Deneuve, with her star on the Almería Walk of Fame
8:00 p.m. We end the day with dinner on the pleasant terrace of ** La Consentida, a brewery-brasserie whose tapas are named after female divas,** from Marilyn Monroe (secret grilled pork) to Lady Di (chicken tears) passing through Lola Flores (veal cheek meatballs with Chinese noodles) .
If we want a drink later, we will find the gambling dens in the four streets, a central nightlife area with options such as Vhada (from rock to electronic music and reggae on Calle Real 56) or Vértice (full-blooded rockers who have been fighting for more than a quarter of a century on Eduardo Pérez, 4).
Garlic eel toast with quail egg on seed bread, delicious!
SUNDAY:
10:00 a.m. Today we will spend the day before returning to the town of Cabo de Gata, neighborhood belonging to Almería capital that we will find on the outskirts (half an hour by car), at the beginning of the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar.
On the way and with a bit of luck we will see the pink flamingos in the salt flats. Before settling down to watch the hours that remain in the San Miguel beach (our true objective) we approached its end to see the lighthouse and the Mirador de Las Sirenas.
Once the relevant photos have been taken, we return to this kilometre-long beach of fine white sand and turquoise water that will give us the batteries to face the return.
To eat, and before leaving, we will approach the beach bar that there is next to the old watchtower to try their specialty: skewers
My pleasure!
The arid landscape of the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park