Is this Spain’s prettiest town? (Ep. 8 Van Life Spain 2022)
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- čas přidán 16. 02. 2022
- Mojácar, the white washed village on the coast of the Spanish province of Almería is a very popular destination for holiday makers as well as for people who are looking to live permanently under the Spanish sun.
Mojacar was declared one of Spain’s prettiest towns in 2003, and it’s no wonder why. With more than 3000 hours of sun a year, less than 200mm of rain per year, an average yearly temperature of around 20 °C and a minimum temperature never dropping below 4 °C - we think this makes it a great place to visit any time of the year!
Mojacar is in fact made up of two parts: Mojacar Pueblo (the town) and Mojacar Playa (the beaches).
The town is an elevated mountain village of whitewashed houses located about 170 metres above sea level on a hilltop, at the end of Sierra Cabrera, in Almeria province.
Mojacar town has a long history. Back in 1488, when all the towns of the region had surrendered to the Catholic Monarchs, Alavez, the Moorish ruler of Mojacar at the time, refused to hand over the town. He reportedly said that he was as much Spanish as the Catholic Monarchs and that he didn’t want to engage in a war against Christians, but rather wanted the inhabitants of Mojacar to be treated as brothers, and not as enemies. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel accepted Alavez’s pledge of loyalty and the village kept prospering.
The town enjoyed a period of great economic prosperity after silver was discovered at the beginning of the 19th century. However, this didn’t last long and at the start of the 20th century, the silver mines closed and the town suffered wars, droughts and diseases. This led to a drastic drop in population, leaving less than 300 inhabitants living in the Mojacar area during the mid-20th century
Then, in the 1960s, the mayor of Mojacar began offering land to those who would commit to restoring the ruined town. The mayor’s proposal was extremely appealing to artists, intellectuals, and journalists from every part of the world, who fell in love with Mojacar’s location and long-time history.
Together with the renovation of Mojacar Pueblo’s houses and streets, new residential areas also began to be built along the seashore, thus giving birth to the impressive Mojacar Playa as a tourist destination that we see today.
The beaches of Mojacar are some of the most appealing along the seashores of Almeria. Almost half of the 17 km worth of sandy beaches have been granted the Blue Flag status.
You can find our blog at www.wewillnomad.com where we post regularly about the destinations we visit along with travel tips and what we spend on travelling. We also release regular Podcast Episodes on travel and budget-related topics.
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I'm going to mojacar for the first time in June. After watching this video I cannot wait
Nice! Enjoy your trip!
For me Mojacar is number 1.
I enjoyed your video of lovely Mojacar. I am American living in Ecuador now but had the privelidge to live in France, Sweden and Spain years ago from years 2000 to 2007 and actually lived in at the top of Mojacar pueblo from 2001 to 2003. I recall watching the red sands of Morocco blowing across the Meddeterrannian right under our front door! I have amazing memories of my life in Europe with my late husband that I deeply cherish. Mojacar still looks beautiful! Thank you both for your adventurous spirits and passion to explore the world.
Thank you for your comment and kind words. Sounds like you have lived a truly extraordinary life that we can aspire to and we're happy to have added a tiny piece to your memories of Mojacar ❤ When we travel to unfamiliar places it challenges everything we consider ‘normal’ about life. Everything is unordinary. Everything is important. It's challenging at times but always rewarding and humbling.
We love Mojacar, our favourite South coast stop closely followed by Nerja
That coast is amazing,! We're hoping to get back there later this year.
Thank you, a very well presented video. I was in Mojacar for 6 weeks in 1986....unrecognisable to me now...I must return one day.
Wow. 😮 1986! Can't even imagine what Mojacar looked like back then! Nowadays you might find considerably more expats 😁 but the whole region is still wonderful. Thanks for your comment!
My wife's family moved there from the US in the early 1970's! Their parents opened a cafe called El Saloon. Many cultures were changing and mixing at that time but Mojacar always kept it's magical charm of families, artists and travelers. We will be back to see old friends this year to laugh and cry together after the passing of her mom. There is a book including much of the history of those times but I think there was very limited printing. Maybe they still have it in the town.
I found many parts of Spain different to how it was back in '86.
@@andyw3152 Too right Andy, and not all for the better. A welcome rise in living standards and improvements to the infrastructure haven't it seems led to an increase in alegria.
We love at Mojacar great to see the pueblo we will definitely be there this year shame it’s still to cold for swimming. Great blog guys
Thank you!
Spain looks beautiful during winter time. Not too crowded with so many tourists.
It's super quiet - relatively speaking. Still lots of people congregating in the south - escaping the winter from the north . Mild weather, blue skies. Who can blame them!
no its very crowded down at the beaches. i can say this especially since i live very close to the beach.
Thanks for this great video. I' ve tears in my eyes I see it.
You're very welcome. Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful vídeo. Thanks for sharing
Thank you!
Beautiful video!! thanks for making it ❤
Glad you liked it, thanks for commenting! 😍
Wow, a great video. I used to live on Mojacar Playa back from 1989-95. It looks completely different now!!
Nice! Can't even imagine how different it must have been then!
@@WeWillNomad well, it looks a completely different place to how it was. So many new buildings. I aim to visit again possibly next year. Looking forward to it.
our first family holiday abroad was in mojacar, hotel indalo, we had a lovely time there, a good mix of Spanish, Dutch, French and English all families. we would go up to the pueblo on Sundays for el rastro and Wednesdays for the market. it was pesetas in those days. i used to visit la bodega bar, run by a nice spanish chap who would challenge us to balance a coin on a lemon in a glass of water. kookies, daves bar and badgers, happy days.
I'm guessing especially the beach areas look a bit different nowadays?
@@WeWillNomad
yes very much so, i hear that there's a promenade all the way to guaracha now?
it was in la bodega that i came across a rotund English chap being rude to the owner, i explained to him that not all Spanish gents are called Pedro and that if he would sit down quietly i would buy him a beer and we could pass the day in peace, he declined my offer and drifted off in his rather rusty camper van. it was at that point that i decided to learn Spanish and so twenty five years later i thank that rude person for leading me to all i love about Spain, the culture and the people. i see that you've made other videos, ill have a look.
thanks, johnnie.
That's a great story. We were in Spain for almost 5 months - we had a wonderful time and will be back soon. We spent more than a month in Los Gallardos and saw a lot of the area. There's still a bit of a gap between Mojacar and Garrucha so not quite all the way. I think it our Villaricos and Almeria videos you can see that stretch and more of Garrucha.
Great content 👌
Thank you 🙌
It’s a beautiful place
I've just come home after a great stay in Mojacar! Great video! Best of luck!
That whole area has such a nice relaxed vibe. We really like that part of Spain. Thanks for your comment!
You are welcome. If you are not already, I would suggest posting your videos on the Facebook forums of all the locations you visit too! Safe trip!
Good idea. Thanks!
Hello, thank you for the video I live in the north of Spain but I know the south of the country very well. I recommend that you visit these towns in Andalusia apart from Mojácar, which is my favourite:
-frigiliana (Malaga)
-ronda (Malaga)
-setenil de las bodegas (Cádiz) -aracena (Huelva)
-cazorla (Jaen)
-pampaneira (Granada)
-arcos de la fronters (Cádiz) -carmona
-zuheros (Córdoba)
Wow, thank you for your comment and for the tips! We'll mark all these on our map for next time because we will definitely be going back to the South of Spain again! What about some tips for the North? 😊
Thanks guys, just what I needed just now. Taking a break from study cos my brain feels like it's leaking out of my ears and was looking for something mindless and relaxing.
(I thought Lisa was going to ride Mike for a bit. Oh, that sounds SO wrong 🤭)
Imagine what looks we'll get if we swop places on the bike 😜 Never mind poor old Mike. 😆
just come back from a holiday there! very nice place. we briefly explored the Hotel El Moresco and it was really cool.
Yes, it's really a great place to holiday!
I think its really deralict and has been close for over 12 years
We have lived in this area for 3 years.......Mojacar/Garrucha/Palomares are our local coastal towns, there is tourism but not so much as the other Costas, so the playas are relatively uncrowded and quiet........Me and my wife visited Mojacar Pueblo for the first time last week (3 kids, 2 jobs and a year of lockdowns meant we didn't have the time)........IT IS OUTSTANDING!!.........The streets are so narrow and mazy, that we got lost numerous times and loved every minute.
Oh wow, that sounds fantastic! Getting lost in the streets, not lockdown! Curious... Did you watch our video before or after you had been? We also live the coastal drive just north from there, it's spectacular! Thanks for your message! 😊
@@WeWillNomad I watched it after.
It was because of a video about the best places in Europe to visit, and there was an Italian Village on a hill by the sea that reminded me of Mojacar Pueblo.
If you ever come back here, visit Villaricos, San Juan de los Terreros or the two coves just a little up the coast called Cala Cerrada and Playa La Carolina.
Ah yes, we did explore that area a bit and it's beautiful! In fact, a couple of those spots feature in our "wild camping Spain" video 😝 We'll definitely be back... 😊
I have a nice place up there with beautiful views to the sea dessert and mountains from my terrace
La fuenté is a historic place in the village for many reasons back to the days of the donkeys. Maybe they're still some there 😏 we shall see later this year. A lot of memories still there.
We didn't see any donkeys but there is still fresh water. Enjoy your trip there!
My Town on Ave Paris
We love Spain and are going there in July, with a plan to buy something in the future, need to get away from UK winters.
That sounds like a good plan! Enjoy your trip and happy property hunting! Thanks for saying hi!
@@WeWillNomad Thanks, and I forgot to say I loved your blog.
Would you mind if I include link to your video to my flat web page, I'd like to promote Mojácar and the region. Thanks for letting me know.
Of course! You're more than welcome! Thanks for watching!
Think it could be