Almeria

Seen from the huge ramparts of Alcazaba, Almeria looks like North Africa, desert on a yellow background, with a mixture of flat roofed houses and high blocks of flats. Out from the port, ferries leave through Melilla, one of the Spanish possessions on Maroccan territory.
Take a walk among Almeria’s beauties

You can absorb the great atmosphere in „Parque Nicolas Salmeron”, full of palms, fountains and gardens. Maroccans dressed in „djellabas” (long robes) come here to taste a very good mint tea.

A large number of Maroccan immigrants from Almeria work in vegetable gardens and orchards placed around the town, especially in „El Ejido”, situated 30 kilometers away in the west part of the city.

You will find a more ” European” style in the structure of this town while looking at the „Paseo de Almeria”, the focus and the main place for socializing and friendship. Take a look at number 35 and you will see the wonderful” Circulo Mercantil”, a very adorned area.

On the western streets of the town you can see the fortified cathedral, built in the XVIIth century. Look for the „Sol de Portocarrero”, a huge sun, engraved on the stone facade of this cathedral, symbolizing the privileged climate of Almeria. A relic of the past of the industrial port is Cables Ingles, a cable used for loading  ore, and especially used for the tin mines here.

Alcazaba, dominating the town

Do not miss visiting Alcazaba (arabian castle) that dominates the town with its castellated walls and towers. Built in 955 to control the Muslim port from Spain, it fell to the armies of the Catholic Monarchs in 1490.

Today only a small number of relics have survived inside the walls, but walk through its three premises, full of aromatic plants, fountains and water channels. Climb up to „Torre de Polvora” from the back of the castle and admire „Muralla de la Hoya”, a fortified wall deep in the valley that can be seen from the hill St. Christopher, placed in front of it.

A peaceful holiday in Almeria

Dominating the town from the hill’s height, Alcazaba, or the castle, retains echoes of the past and the present of the Moorish in Almeria. There are amazing landscapes, rare and exotic plants and very chic arranged gardens waiting to be admired.

Take a photo of these places and give them to your friends, as a souvenir from Spain. Relax and spend a wonderful holiday inside  the walls of Almeria .