Uncovering Mojacar Man in a Spanish Resort

Our First Time in Mojacar

This was the first trip to Mojacar for my wife and I. This resort town in the Province of Almería, southern Spain is pronounced "Mahaca" and shouldn't be confused with the island of Majorca. Before we booked our trip about the only thing we where aware of about the resort was its internationally recognized Mojacar Man or Indalo Man symbol.

We drove into Mojacar with slight trepidation as always plan our holidays pretty carefully but this was a last minute decision and we decided to take a chance and surprise ourselves, so no Googleing.

Arriving from Vera

As we approached Mojacar from the neighboring town Vera we received our first surprise. Unlike so many coastal Spanish resorts there is no beach front promenade. The sand comes up to the coast road, giving a pleasant open aspect to the beach. Another immediate impression is that this town hasn’t suffered any ridiculous overuse of concrete, ala the Costa del Sol.

As we drove along the beach front it was obvious that this is a quieter, more traditional Spanish resort. We found our accommodation, courtesy of http://www.icelolly.com/,
easily as it was located along the seafront.

Our apartment had everything we needed; including fridge, hob, kettle etc and the staff were friendly and helpful. There is a very large pool and lots of space around it to lounge away the day. During our time here we spent the mornings on the beach and the afternoons by the pool where there were plenty of trees offering shade.

Warming Up in Spain

This is apparently the warmest place in Europe, whether that is true or not it certainly feels very hot as the town is bordered by Europe’s only real desert. The beach is pristine and although we don’t have kids but it’s perfectly suited to families.

One concern we had was the large numbers of young Spanish holidaymakers. Presumably based on our own prejudices against young British holidaymakers we worried about noise and general bad behavior around town and back at our accommodation. These were unfounded as the young Spaniards couldn’t have been quieter or better behaved.

Our ‘thing’ is trying to eat somewhere different each night on holiday. We began with an Argentinean restaurant on the beach front named La Cabana. The service from the owner and his daughter was friendly and easy-going. The Argentinean steaks are nothing short of excellent and all for a very reasonable price.

But It Was Not Perfect

The second evening we broke with tradition and returned to La Cabana, big mistake. The entire evening, from service to food, was a poor imitation of the previous night’s offering. A serious lack of consistently seems to be an issue here.

So for the remainder of our stay we stuck to the plan and ate at a different place every night. We visit the Albir, small but excellent food and had an excellent Indian meal at the Mountains of the Moon. The Blue Lagoon is a British establishment with rather drab food and the final night was spent at Dolce Vita where we were overjoyed with the excellent Mediterranean fare.

Our evenings mainly consisted of strolling along the beach popping into the many chiringuitos, or beach bars peppered along the beach itself. This is an excellent and relaxing way to spend a few hours each evening listening to music by the Mediterranean.

Dat-tripping Mojacar

One trip I was determined to take was a short one north into the desert. Our destination is Mini-Hollywood near Tabernas which is now a theme park. This was the set for famous spaghetti westerns such as The Good The Bad And The Ugly and A Fistful Of Dollars, another thing ticked off my bucket list.

Just inland from our hotel was Mojácar old town, a large village with winding cobbled back streets which are a pleasure to explore. There are lots of eateries, boutiques, gift shops and the impressive little Moorish fortress, El Torreon.

Overall Mojacar was a very pleasant surprise and we really enjoyed it there. The accommodation was clean, the staff friendly and generally the food was great. The beach is an example of how all Spanish beaches should be. The nightlife is great if you like a relaxed quiet atmosphere either at one of the bars that buffer the beach or on the actual sand itself. We will be certainly be returning to Mojacar.