Andalusia 2020

Sunday25October

So it is by car, a Peugeot 208, that we leave France to reach southern Spain. The trip will take two days with a stop in Huesca, a city located about a hundred kilometers from the border.

Monday26October

The next day, we arrive at Hotel Sevilla and as its name does not suggest, we are in Almería, far east of Andalusia in the province of the same name. And here is our first Andalusian dinner which will not be gastronomic far from it!  

Tuesday27October

This first day will be dedicated to visiting the city and its fortress, El Alcazaba. But here we are first on the square of the martyrs of freedom, commemorating an uprising attempt against the regime of Fernando VII in 1823.

Heading west of the city where El Alcazaba is located.

This name of Alcazaba, whose Arabic origin means citadel or fortress, is thus found in several cities of Andalusia, betraying the Muslim past dated between the 8th and 15th centuries. It was in the 10th century that the one in Almería was built, undergoing several restorations thereafter.

The walls overlook the port and the Chanca district.

The gardens laid out inside the first enclosure, which formerly protected the houses of the citadel.

To the north, the wall joins the viewpoint of Cerro San Cristobal where a statue of Christ looking very lonely looks from the top of his hill towards the South-East.  

A pomegranate tree and its pomegranates. No, the city of Granada does not have a monopoly on its fruits...  

A Sapindus drummondii or "soap tree" and its fruits with detergent qualities.

The owner of the place makes his little morning tour and seems quite disillusioned by the total absence of tourists if it were not for these two French people following him discreetly... Indeed, we are in a pandemic period and government restrictions have discouraged a large part of travelers. But Spain still welcomes brave visitors despite everything, at least for the moment!

Some photos of Cape daisies (dimorphotheca) in passing...  

And a prickly pear cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica).

On a small square at the foot of the walls, the statue of Jayrán al Amiri, the first king of the kingdom of Almeria from 1014 to 1028.

We have to take the small streets of the city again to reach Cerro San Cristóbal.

We come to disturb what seems to be the isolation of the Sacred Heart which perched on its pedestal seems to say to anyone who wants to hear it: "But what am I doing here?"  

Yes, one wonders what it is doing here so far from everything and at the mercy of graffiti of all kinds. But it is indeed here that this statue (at least the original) was dynamited 85 years ago in the Chapel of San Cristóbal of which nothing remains today. The restoration of the area is undoubtedly not finished and all this will surely look better in a few years.

The La Chanca district separated from the walls by a gazelle breeding farm...

Back to the square of the martyrs where we can go up to the terrace of the Centro de Interpretación Patrimonial de Almería.

At this end of October, no need to go to the other hemisphere or get closer to the equator to enjoy palm trees. Here, the Sun has not said its last word and warms our skin at leisure.

24 palm trees have been installed in front of the cathedral.  

The architecture of the cathedral also takes the form of a fortress, additional protection against possible invasions.

Its official name is the Cathedral of the Incarnation.

Diego José Paulino Ventaja Milán (1880-1936), the bishop of Almeria, killed at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.

The interior of the cathedral.

Some of its paintings.

The two organs facing each other above the choir.

One of the chapels.

The sacristy.

Back in the pedestrian streets where around a square, a masked man has not escaped the new health rules. This is Nicolás Salmerón (1838-1908) who held power for 51 days during the First Spanish Republic.

A little further, a lady has taken position on San Sebastián Square. This sculpture named "La espera" (the wait) is the work of sculptor Javier Huecas.

We now arrive at "Cable Inglés" (the English cable), built in 1904 to allow rail transport of minerals to the port.

The Eiffel-style construction is now part of the city's cultural heritage.

The suspended railway ends in the Mediterranean Sea.

Right next to it, an alignment of 142 columns commemorates the 142 victims from Almeria who died in the Austrian concentration camp of Mauthausen between 1940 and 1945.

We take the car to move away from the city and reach about twenty kilometers away the natural park of Cabo de Gata where the Sun will soon take leave...

The Moon has already largely started its evening.

Our companion on wheels who will accompany us during these three weeks also enjoys the view.

Not far from there, Almadraba beach.

The church of Las Salinas de Cabo de Gata

Nocturnal return to the feet of the Alcazaba and Cerro San Cristobal. Tomorrow, we leave Almeria permanently to start our advance towards the west of Andalusia...

Wednesday28October

This Wednesday will be devoted to hiking in the Sierra Nevada. We reach the entry point to the hiking trails from the small village of Capileira located at 1436 meters altitude. But we are in covid times and the information points are deserted. We take the opportunity to lose ourselves in the small streets of the village.

Some peppers drying on white balconies to add Sun where there is already some  

We leave Capileira to join the Alpujarras, name given to this part of the Sierra Nevada. The opportunity to admire the white village on its mountainside.

Here we are at the beginning of our hiking trail that we found on the internet. It is the Hoya del Portillo trail which must reach the Poqueira refuge 8.6 kilometers away.

The trail quickly leaves the forest where we have a nice view of the Sierra Nevada.

Passing by the Puerto Molina viewpoint.

We will meet almost no hikers except the few cows still in transhumance wondering who these two unconfined humans are...  

In the distance, we barely discern the Poqueira refuge, the arrival point of our hike. But the distance is too great to get there, we will have to turn back! Yes, we want to reach our next stage this evening: Granada!

Come on! U-turn and return to the car to travel the 80 kilometers that separate us from Granada.