ALMERIA AND SURROUNDING AREA

On the south-eastern tip of Spain, the city of Almeria, the province’s capital with a population of 177,000, sits on a bay at the foot of the Gador mountain range crowned on one peak by an impressive Arab fortress, the Alcazaba. From here, you can see the cave houses in the city’s gypsy quarter and the old town with the gothic cathedral and the Plaza Vieja market area.

This charming city has a strong North African influence, with ferries departing regularly from here to Tunisia and Morocco. The modern town is lively commercial centre with a sports marina and working fishing port, a wide range of shops, museums, galleries, bars and restaurants. Sports facilities are top-notch as a result of the 2005 Mediterranean Games which brought considerable international interest and investment to the city.

Almeria’s climate is subtropical. It’s constantly warm and dry and is considered one of the best places in Spain to spend the winter.

As with Malaga, most visitors tend to overlook the region’s capital city and head inland or along the coast where there are many areas of interest within a 30-minute drive of Almeria airport.

Alhama de Almeria, 25km north of Almeria airport, is famous for its spa water as experienced at its San Nicolas spa baths, there are wonderful farmhouses in need of repair from 60,000 euros. Around here and nearby Terque you can buy a refurbished cave house for 90,000 euros, with up to three bedrooms and large terraces with beautiful views. New-build four-bedroom townhouses in Alhama cost from 180,000 euros.
In the hills overlooking Aguadulce, 10 minutes west of Almeria, there is a lot of new-build activity around the Envia Golf course which is situated in a large valley 300m above the Bay of Almeria. Off-plan one-bed apartments here start at 70,000 euros and two-beds from 120,000 euros, with frontline villas cost from 500,000 euros.

It doesn’t get much easier than driving for 10 minutes from the airport to your coastal villa – and Costa Cabana offers just that, with villas for about 325,000 euros. There are luxurious chalets even nearer the airport – just a five-minute drive away – which command premium prices of around 500,000 euros.
A 25-minute drive west of Almeria on the coast is El Ejido, with a population of 68,000, a quarter of them non-Spanish. Behind the beach is a natural freshwater oasis, where good-sized two-bedroom apartments, 1km from a golf course, cost from 160,000 euros.