Property Net Spain - Almeria City - Towns and Maps

Almeria

The provincial capital, Almeria is a city founded by the Phoenicians and developed by the Romans. Dominated by a magnificent Moorish fort it includes many fascinating sights in the city and the added bonus of easy access to the airport.

The town of Rioja is located north from Almeria, close to the Valley of the river Andarax and surrounded by orange groves. The desert of Tabernas lies further north between the mountains of los Filabres and Alhamilla, and occupies some 11,625 hectares of Parque Natural.

Tabernas stands at the foot of a hill, dominated by an impressive Moorish castle where Fernando and Isabelle hid during the siege of Almería. The parish church was built in the middle of the 16th century and several interesting archaeological sites have been found nearby.

The desert areas have helped to form a thriving film industry here, and several towns in the style of the old American West have been built. Mini Hollywood lies in a particularly gulch riven landscape and is where “the Good The Bad And The Ugly” and other spaghetti and paella westerns were made in the 60’s. Further along the road is Texas Hollywood where a couple of less commercialised film sets in a more spectacular setting together with Indian village plus wigwams, a Mexican town and a US cavalry frontier fort can be found.

Due to the high level of sunlight in this province, a solar energy plant has been built at Los Retamares, aimed at improving the techniques for the production of electricity from the steam produced through the heat of the sun's radiation.

To the north of Tabernas at Calar Alto in the Sierra de Filabres a series of high powered telescope have been installed to take advantage of the crystalline air and study the heavens.

Viator is a small village that lies at the foot of the Sierra Alhamilla and stretches to the left bank of the Rio Andarax. The surrounding scenery is rugged and mountainous except on the plain where the farming of citrus fruits, vegetables, grapes and cereals is the main industry.

Huércal de Almería lies north of Almería in what is known as the Campo de Almería and stretches across the Rio Andarax. Until the beginning of the 19th century, it formed part of the municipal area of Almeria, after its independence from the capital it has become an important local industrial centre and includes agricultural produce of oranges, table grape, esparto grass and poultry.

Pechina is also in the Campo de Almeria at the foot of the Sierra de Alhamilla, the pueblo has light-coloured low houses, which are dominated by the church and surrounded by the immense orange groves and hills, and barrancos (gullies) making up the surrounding landscape. Agricultural activity includes the growing of citrus fruits, mainly oranges and table grape: the thermal spa here was abandoned for many years until it was rebuilt in 1776.

Benahadux also lies in the Campo de Almeria and is crossed by the Río Andarax it is situated near the capital surrounded by irrigated land and fruit trees in the river valley, contrasting with a landscape of uneven dry terrain of the last foothills of the Sierra de Gador. In the 19th Century sulphur mines were in use and the introduction of lead smelting mines lead to the destruction of hundreds of olive groves. More recently there has been a growth in the production of cereals and of citrus fruits, especially mandarinas (mandarins).

Gádor lies at the foot of the sierra Gádor; the pueblo has an ancient history and in the Christian uprising was left practically deserted. It has unique scenery with orchards of citrus fruits surrounded by desert; streets of white houses and even some cave dwellings. In the 19th century the traditional agricultural economy was based on local produce, oil and silk but changed when the Ohanes grape was introduced and grown exclusively. When this declined it was substituted by the growth of citrus fruits, predominantly oranges.

Rioja pueblo is situated near the capital on the banks of the Rio Andarax on mountain slopes along which its houses and caves are scattered. Like Gádor its economy was boosted by the cultivation of the Ohanes grape, although mass emigration from 1910 brought a crisis with the departure of its population. Nowadays, its economic activity centres on agriculture, citrus fruits, cereals and potatoes and a few small industries. It also boasts the Alfaro spa, of which the waters are medicinal and allegedly good for dermatitis and colds.

Santa Fe de Mondújar, a group of low white houses lies in surroundings made up of fields of citrus fruits, olive groves, fruit trees and vines of the Ohanes grape surrounded by arid semi-desert like terrain. Within its municipal area is Los Millares, with a prehistoric fortress built 2,000 years before Christ, a settlement of circular houses fortified with a wall and large necrópolis (graveyard) of great historical importance.

Turillas lies in Arizona-type landscape and is surrounded by almond trees, olives and green fields. It is situated between the Sierra de los Filabres and the northern slopes of the Sierra Alhamilla and is included in the Sierra de Alhamilla Natural Beauty Spot with its wood of Holm oak, reforestation of pine trees and excellent bird watching.