We came to Andalusia end of the year 2022 and traveled mainly on its wonderful south coast east of Málaga. End of January 2023 we took a plane from Málaga home to Germany where we stayed till mid of March 2023. 

Mural in a bar on the beach of Torre de Benagalbon
Mural in a bar on the beach of Torre de Benagalbon

 

We visited the areas around San Juan de los Terreros, south of Mojacár, La Isleta del Moro and San José on Andalusia's east coast. From the latter one we did a spectacular bicycling tour along the coast to the summit of 212 meters Vela Blanca where we could see Cabo de Gata in the west, which is the southeast corner of Spain. There the coastline of the Mediterranean Sea turns from south to west.

Beach Cala de Los Amarillos with 73 meters high Morrón de Los Genoveses (5 km south of San José)
Beach Cala de Los Amarillos with 73 meters high Morrón de Los Genoveses (5 km south of San José)

 

Coastline between Morrón de Los Genoveses and Vela Blanca
Coastline between Morrón de Los Genoveses and Vela Blanca

 

Windmill south of San José
Windmill south of San José

 

The village Cabo de Gata has an excellent overnight staying place directly on the beach. We took our bicycles and headed approximately 10 km to the cape Cabo de Gata with its lighthouse. Fortunately this pristine area is protected by the natural reserve Parque Natural de Cabo de Gata-Nijar (up to San José).

Jutta, Marion and Hermann with Cabo de Gata in the back
Jutta, Marion and Hermann with Cabo de Gata in the back

 

Coast east of Cabo de Gata
Coast east of Cabo de Gata

 

Pinnacle opposite of Cabo de Gata
Pinnacle opposite of Cabo de Gata

 

Busy Almeria is with approximately 200,000 inhabitants the largest city in Andalusia's southeast corner. We arrived in Almeria in the late afternoon of January 5th - the day before Epiphany (January 6th - the three Magi) which is the most important day of Christmas in Spain because the kids get their presents on epiphany (not on Christmas Eve like in Germany and many other countries). In addition Almeria is famous for processions on the night 5./6. January. The first one was under Almeria's impressive Alcazaba (Arabic castle) at dawn and the second one in the center at night. On both processions the crowd was huge with a lot of exited kids of all ages - true highlights of our time in Spain.

Knights in front of the main gate of Almeria's Alcazaba
Knights in front of the main gate of Almeria's Alcazaba

 

Arabic beauty
Arabic beauty

 

Camels loaded with gifts
Camels loaded with gifts

 

Cathedral of Almeria with Christmas illumination
Cathedral of Almeria with Christmas illumination

 

Procession in Almeria's downtown - Warriors
Procession in Almeria's downtown - Warriors

 

Christmas fairy playing violin
Christmas fairy playing violin

 

We spent few days in Almerimar where we found a nice campsite including electricity on its marina, and in its neighborhood villages Guardas Viejas and Balanegra both with superb parking lots directly on beaches where we could spent pleasant nights free of charge.

Sunset with the lighthouse of Almerimar
Sunset with the lighthouse of Almerimar

 

A very tight dirt road led us to the starting point of Via Ferrata Estrechuras de Guainos, a short climb in a narrow gorge. On the following day we hiked the valley up to the hermitage Ermita de la Sierra - an adventurous and strenuous trip of 7 hours on a sunny day. Sometimes we lost the track in the dense vegetation.

We were more than happy that we could return to the main road down the valley on a decent road with our bigger campers on the next morning.

Via Ferrata Estrechuras de Guainos from the top
Via Ferrata Estrechuras de Guainos from the top

 

Water inlet for a mill on the way to the hermitage Ermita de la Sierra
Water inlet for a mill on the way to the hermitage Ermita de la Sierra

 

Very bushy path along the stream
Very bushy path along the stream

 

Almond blossom on January 12th!
Almond blossom on January 12th!

 

Again we found nearly perfect parking places in the nice villages Melicena and Calahonda, both good for shorter hikes and exploration of beautiful beaches of Costa Tropicana which is the coast of Andalusia's province Granada.

Tower Torre de Melicena
Tower Torre de Melicena

 

Busy beach of Calahonda
Busy beach of Calahonda

 

We spent three days in the old town Salobreña with its stunning fortress. The weather was a little bit changeable with hefty winds - The usually calm Mediterranean Sea became the Atlantic Ocean with huge impressive waves.

Rainbow with Salobreña
Rainbow with Salobreña

 

Fortress of Salobreña
Fortress of Salobreña

 

Beach of Salobreña
Beach of Salobreña

 

Peñón de Salobreña on a stormy day
Peñón de Salobreña on a stormy day

 

In contradiction to the last visited villages and towns busy Nerja is much more impacted by tourism. It is close to Málaga and it's the easternmost city of famous, attractive and rich Costa del Sol of Spain. The advantage is that you find a lot of facilities in Nerja like interesting galleries or fancy restaurants.

Lady with a glass where a man swims in red wine (Gallery No 27 Pintada street in Nerja which shows paintings and other works of Francisco Martin)
Lady with a glass where a man swims in red wine (Gallery No 27 Pintada street in Nerja which shows paintings and other works of Francisco Martin)

 

Adorned pinnacle between Nerja and Torrax
Adorned pinnacle between Nerja and Torrax

 

Starting in Nerja we did two trips with our bicycles. The first one to Torrax along the coast - unfortunately a bigger part was on the much used national street N340. The second tour was to the marvelous white mountain village Frigiliana (320 meters sea-level) where we had an exhausting uphill drive in a river bed with a lot of scree and a rapid downhill race on paved roads.

Frigiliana with its rocky mountains
Frigiliana with its rocky mountains

 

Donkey in upper Frigiliana which is not accessible by car and bicycle
Donkey in upper Frigiliana which is not accessible by car and bicycle

 

Girls of Frigiliana
Girls of Frigiliana

 

We continued to Málaga via the pleasant beach villages Mezquitilla and Torre De Benagalbon. From the latter one we cycled to the viewpoint Mirador Rincón de la Victoria where we could see the eastern parts of Málaga.

Mural of an old train close to Mirador Rincón de la Victoria
Mural of an old train close to Mirador Rincón de la Victoria

 

Huge Málaga (more than 500,000 inhabitants) is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso (1881 - 1973) one of the most famous artist on earth. A must to see is the museum Museo Pablo Picasso which is not an easy task because the spirit of many paintings show incredibly touching the pain, cruelty and absurdity of war, especially of the Spanish civil war between 1936 and 1939.

Women Les Demoiselles d’Avignon painted by Pablo Picasso in the year 1907
Women Les Demoiselles d’Avignon painted by young Pablo Picasso in the year 1907

 

Pablo Picasso in Carboneras (East of Almeria)
Pablo Picasso in Carboneras (East of Almeria)

 

We had strolled two days in the center, beaches and port of wonderful Málaga including its two monumental fortresses Castillo de Gibralfaro and Alcazaba de Málaga before we flew back to Germany on January 27th 2023. We had stored our camper on the safe parking area El Llano (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) in Almayate Bajo for € 40.- per month (25 km east of Málaga).

Bullring of Málaga
Bullring of Málaga

 

Alcazaba of Málaga
Alcazaba of Málaga

 

Alfred with murals
Alfred with murals

 

Fish on the beach
Fish on the beach

 

Painted lavatory on the beach of Málaga
Painted lavatory on the beach of Málaga

 

 

For more pictures, please click here

For a map of our itineraries, click here

To download our GPS coordinates file of Spain, click here 

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