A goat farmer told me no one swims in the lake at Zahara de la Sierra because it’s full of fish with crocodile heads. Is that why I’m the only person in 128 sq km of cool water on a very hot day? I later learn that this manmade lake […]
Andalucia holidays
Mosque-cathedral The Mezquita-Catedral is the attraction everybody talks about, because it’s incredible. Originally a mosque, built in the 10th century, it later became a cathedral. Being local I don’t pay to get in, but anyone can get in for free by showing up at 8.30am while they’re preparing for the […]
Some find it a bit of a mystery that Almería has been named Spain’s gastronomic capital for 2019. The modest city in the south-eastern corner of the peninsula is often overlooked and draws fewer visitors than the rest of Andalucía. Yet it boasts Europe’s largest Islamic fortress, after Granada’s Alhambra, […]
I’m bored! Málaga’s redeveloped Muelle Uno port area is full of distractions: not only is the waterfront promenade dotted with playgrounds and a maritime museum (adult €7, child €5, family 2+2, €20), but a multicoloured glass cube also houses the city’s Centre Pompidou (adult €9, children free, adults free on […]
Morning It’s peak holiday week, 28C on the coast of Almería, but I am one of only six people on the beach. Why? Because I am unfashionably – freakishly – early. The small resort of San José, the most accessible of the Cabo de Gata bays, is packed, but in […]
Such is the dazzle of Seville, Cordoba, Granada and Málaga that few visitors to Spain’s south-west pause to explore the space between them. Part of it, La Campiña, a region of Seville province, appears largely empty. But over ploughed fields and olive groves there are towers and ramparts, the hazy […]