Almuñécar: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 60 - 242 Hotel Playa Cotobro
 This beachfront hotel looks out over the idyllic Cotobro Bay, where 3 valleys meet the Mediterranean Sea. The hotel’s fashionable design complements… MoreEUR 54 - 181 Hotel Helios - Costa Tropical
 Hotel Helios is located on the front line of San Cristóbal Beach in Almuñécar on the Costa Tropical. It offers indoor and outdoor pools, and a bar … MoreEUR 39 - 80 Hotel Casablanca
 Hotel Casablanca is located right on the beachfront in Almuñecar, with beautiful sea views. There is free Wi-Fi internet access in public areas.
Roo… MoreEUR 90 - 363 Hotel Suites Albayzin Del Mar
 Hotel Suites Albayzin del Mar is set in the Isla de Ocio area of Almuñécar. It provides luxury accommodation with a gym, an outdoor pool and free Wi… MoreEUR 52 - 120 Hotel Victoria Playa
 Set beside its own azure swimming pool and only 200 metres from San Cristóbal beach, the Hotel Victoria Playa is ideal for a sunny break on southern … MoreEUR 64 - 425 Playacálida Spa Hotel Luxury
 This Spa hotel boasts amazing pool facilities including a breathtaking infinity pool with panoramic views and a fun pool with slides.
Enjoy the amazi… MoreEUR 40 - 150 La Santa Cruz Resort & SPA
 Located just outside Almuñecar, an hour´s drive from Granada, the Santa Cruz air-conditioned apartments offer views of the sea or surrounding c… MoreEUR 38 - 200 La Najarra
 La Najarra is a family-run hotel, 100 metres from San Cristóbal Beach, Almuñécar. It offers free Wi-Fi, and has a tennis court and seasonal outdoor… MoreEUR 33 - 104 Hotel Carmen Almuñécar
 Hotel Carmen Almuñécar is 100 metres from San Cristobal Beach, on Spain’s Costa Tropical. It has a terrace with a small swimming pool and wonderfu… MoreEUR 30 - 88 Hostal Velilla
 Hostal Velilla is located right by the beach in Almuñecar, on Granada’s Costa Tropical. It offers free Wi-Fi in public areas and a 24-hour cafeteri… MoreEUR 57 - 147 Apartamentos El Tranco del Mar
 The Tranco del Mar apartments all have a private balcony, modern kitchen and a solar-powered hot water system. They are just 150 metres from Almuñéc… MoreEUR 30 - 130 Apartamentos Chinasol
 Apartamentos Chinasol are located next to San Cristobal Beach in Almuñécar, 80 km from Málaga. It has 2 outdoor swimming pools and a large sun terr… MoreEUR 25 - 135 Apal Chinasol
 Set right beside San Cristóbal beach and surrounded by subtropical gardens, this holiday aparthotel is located in the tranquil resort of Almuñécar,… MoreEUR 35 - 120 Arrayanes Playa
 Just steps away from the beach in a pretty bay, this hotel is a 20-minute walk along the seaside from the historic centre and has a swimming pool and … MoreEUR 48 - 267 Bahía Almuñecar
 With stylish interiors and great facilities, this 4-star hotel is situated in the centre of the town of Almuñecar, just a short distance from the bea… MoreEUR 44 - 48 El Poblado del Amanecer
 Poblado del Amanecer offers good-value rooms and bungalows in the countryside near Almuñecar, with free onsite parking. The complex has a large outdo… MoreEUR 48 - 289 Bahía Tropical
 Set on the beachfront promenade at Almuñecar, this smart and large hotel complex enjoys a fantastic location for spending a holiday on the beaches of… MoreEUR 78 - 372 Almuñecar Playa Spa Hotel
 This hotel is on the beach, 600 metres from Almuñecar’s Old Town. It features a spa and a pool with water slides. All rooms have a private balcony … More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Almuñécar: Guide
Almuñécar is a municipality in the Autonomous communities of Spain|Spanish Autonomous Region of Andalusia on the Costa del Sol between Nerja (Málaga (province)|Málaga) and Motril (Granada (province)|Granada). It has a subtropical climate. Almuñécar lies in the Province of Granada, and has around 15,000 citizens (2004).
Since the death of Francisco Franco in 1975, the town of Almuñécar has become one of the most important tourist towns in Granada and this section of coast is now called the Costa Tropical. Almuñécar has good transport connections and a football stadium.
History
Almuñécar began as a Phoenecian colony named Sexi, and even today, some of its inhabitants still call themelves Sexitanos. Under the Moors, Almuñécar blossomed as the fishing town of Al-Munakkap ("Fortified City") or Hins-al-Monacar ("Surrounded by Mountains"). Although the Phoenecian and Roman history of the district was known from Greek and Roman sources it was not until the 1950's that significant archaeological evidence was discovered.
Phoenician
The Phoenicians first established a colony in Almuñécar in about 800 BC and this developed for six hundred years into an important port and town with the name of Ex or Sexi and with a large fish salting and curing industry that was a major supplier of Greece and Rome. They also supplied a prized fish paste called 'garum' made from the roe and liver of mackerel and tuna by a process of fermentation. Archaeological evidence comes chiefly from Phoenician cemeteries, the earlier Laurita necropolis on the hillside at Cerro San Cristobal and the later necropolis at Punte de Noy. An extensive collection of Phoenician grave goods and other artifacts is on display in the town museum located at the castle of San Miguel and in the 'Cueva de Siete Palacios'.
Roman
The Romans came to Southern Spain at the time of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage in 218 BC as part of the process of subduing the Phoenician settlements along the coast. During 700 years of Roman colonial rule the town and its industry prospered and in 49 BC the municipality (one of 20 cities in Spain honoured at that time) was given the title Firmium Julium Sexi in recognition of the town's loyalty to Rome.
Major evidence of the fish salting and curing industry was uncovered during excavations in the 1970's and 80's in the extensive Majuelo Botanical Gardens. This revealed the great extent of the rebuilding and modernising of the industry under Roman influence. A segment of the site has been carefully conserved, giving some idea of the size of this industry. This industry required not only large quantities of fish and sea salt, produced in many places along the coast, but also a constant supply of fresh running water.
For this the Romans built in the first century AD four miles of water conduit in the valleys of the Rio Seco and the Rio Verde including five significant aqueducts. All, remarkably, are still standing and four of them are still in use after 2,000 years - adapted by the Moors over the centuries to serve the needs of crop irrigation. The Roman water supply also served the town and recent excavations in the town centre have uncovered the fifth aqueduct and the Roman baths.
The Romans were probably the first to fortify the castle of Saint Miguel, although frequent rebuilding has obliterated most of the very extensive Roman fortifications. These included a bridge from the Castle across to the 'Peñon del Santo' with a massive 100 ft arch that survived until at least 1800.
Just below the castle on the landward side is the 'Cueva de Siete Palacios', which translates as the cave of the seven palaces. Except that it is not a cave, rather it is the largest remnant of a Roman palace yet found in Almuñécar and it survived for hundreds of years as 'social housing' until the 'cave dwellers' were re-housed in the 1970's. Only then did its true origins become apparent. It now houses the town museum.
Other important Roman remains in the district include a Roman bridge at Cotobro and Roman tombs in several locations.
Visigoth
With the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD, much of Spain fell to the Germanic Visigoths who did little positive by which to be remembered. The Visigoths were nominally Christian but they adhered to the Arian sect and were not in Communion with the rest of the Christian Church. They generally had a poor relationship with their largely Catholic subjects. At Almuñécar the fish curing industry declined rapidly.
Moors
The first Arab invasion of southern Spain came in 711 AD at or near Gibraltar. At Almuñécar, the town remembers 15 August 755 when Omeya Abd ar-Rahman I of Damascus, the founder of the Emirate of Cordoba, arrived from North Africa to establish his Arab kingdom. The Moors introduced the growing of sugar cane and sustained the fishing industry and many of the streets and buildings of the old town were developed by the Moors. The castle remained the stronghold of the city and the seat of government and its walls strengthened. Extensive dungeons were built for those out of favour, but also baths for the use of those in charge.
The cross on 'Peñon del Santo' the rock at the old harbour entrance marks the defeat of the Arabs, their surrender at Almuñécar, and the return of Christianity in 1489 followed by a century of co-existence.
Christian
Following the restoration of Christian rule, new architectural statements were made, the building of a new church was started in 1557 and completed to the latest design in 1600, the first Baroque style church in the Province of Granada. The old town was also Christianised (or perhaps paganised - by the Goddess of fertility herself) as in the water fountain on the Calle Real (King Street) dated to 1559 and with the royal cypher above but at that time using the existing Roman water supply from Las Angosturas, first installed 1500 years earlier.
The castle was again extensively rebuilt and placed under the patronage of San Miguel. It was rebuilt and heavily fortified by the Christian King Charles III and last defended (by the French) in the Napoleonic Wars. Just one tower was partly destroyed but also most of the internal buildings. This was the work of the British crew of HMS Hyacinth, acting in collaboration with Spanish partisans from Nerja on 27 May 1812. They caused the French garrison to flee and then attempted to render the castle unusable but with little success - owing to the gunpowder being damp! However, the Castle was finished as a military stronghold and following a cholera outbreak in 1830 the castle became the town cemetery, from which use it was cleared in 1986, to permit the restoration which is still in progress.
Sister cities
Fürstenfeldbruck, Bavaria, Germany
Livry-Gargan, Ile-de-France, France
Cerveteri, Lazio, Italy
External links
Community and information site for the Granada province.
References
Initial information in this article is based on that in its German equivalent.
Olivier de Busschère; The Guide to Almuñécar and La Herradura, Costa XXI.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Almuñécar". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.