Águilas

December 7, 2019

Leaving Andalucia

Finally, after being here for four weeks, we leave Andalucia behind and begin the final stage of the tour. And, now that we’re leaving, I feel some regrets about it. We’ve spent more of our three month tour here in Andalucia than any other region, but I’m a bit sorry that we’re leaving so soon. Knowing what we do now, I’d be pretty happy to double back to Almeria for the last week of the tour and fly home from there instead.

But, we’re committed now. Our suitcases are in Valencia, and we have five nights reserved there - three with the hotel that finally received our suitcases, and another two with the hotel that refused delivery but then acknowledged their error and offered us two free nights lodging as compensation. Valencia sounds a very attractive city and like a great place to wind up the tour, and we’re looking forward to our stay there.

Between now and then we have three more days on the road, ending in Murcia where we’ll catch the train or bus the rest of the way to Valencia. The original plan was to bike the whole way, but we decided to save four days at the end so that we could spend more time in Andalucia. Feels like that was a good decision.

Today’s ride

Today’s ride is quite easy, one of the lightest ones of the tour. Once we drop from Mojácar the riding is quite flat most of the way to Aguilas. And, after the nearly unbroken drama of the past several weeks, a bit uninteresting. It begins and ends with long stretches of flat beaches and small coves separated by smaller headlands, and has been almost completely taken over by coastal tourism and large resort hotels. A lot of this development looks quite new, and it makes me a bit sad to envision the string of quiet fishing villages that must have existed here before they were inundated by mass tourism. The riding is easy enough though, and there are enjoyable miles where you can bicycle on pretty seaside promenades - but it’s not really the Andalucia we came to see.

The middle third of the ride is a different story though, as the quiet coast road passes beneath Sierra Almagrera, a short mountain range with a long history of ore extraction, most importantly lead and silver. There is evidence of long abandoned mining activities all along the range, but it all died out over a century ago when its last silver rush played out.

That’s the street, if you can call it that, which we walked up on our first entry to town. It’s the most direct way to our hotel, but also the slowest. Our recommendation: stick to the pavement, take the long way around.

Garrucha’s sheltered harbor can accommodate large ships, and in the past it was the primary port for the region’s extensive mining activities. Now the only remaining active extraction is gypsum.

At Villaricos the rushing Rio Almanzora makes its way to the sea.

Just beyond Villaricos we come to the Sierra Almagrera, the dark ridge that we’ll ride beneath for the next eight miles. Easily the best part of the ride.

There is evidence of former mining activity all along the way.

This is an interesting structure. Any ideas of what we’re seeing here?

We’re just coming to the end of the Sierra Almagrera. The farthest headland in the distance is the final one before Aguilas, our day’s destination.

Some of this rock is very dark, almost like anthracite. I wonder if there has been coal mining here in the past.

It’s our guys again! I can’t believe we crossed paths with them three days in a row.

Video sound track: Estigma de Amor, by Kany Garcia

The small cove at Cala Panizo is the last really attractive spot we’ll pass until Aquilas. Between is about ten miles wholly given over to resort development.

I think this colorful house collection is Urb. Beverly Hills, in San Juan de los Terreros - the last seaside town in Andalucia. Murcia lies waiting just around the corner.

Aguilas

Aguilas is a genuine surprise for us. We didn’t give much thought to it as a destination actually, and were just looking for a place with available lodging at the right distance for segmenting the three day ride to Murcia. Our main concern really was whether we’d find stores and restaurants open on this holiday weekend: yesterday was Constitution Day, and tomorrow is Immaculate Conception Day. Rachael is pedaling with a heavy load today, carrying enough provisions to insure that we won’t starve this weekend.

So we’re surprised to discover what a delightful place Aguilas is. It’s sprawled along two coves separated by a small headland with an impressive castle crowning the ridge. It’s an active fishing port, with a large harbor protected by a long jetty draped with drying nets crawling with cats and lined with fishermen casting their lines off the rocks. It has a fine lighthouse, a pair of scenic windmills, attractive parks cornered by enormous fig trees, flocks of white pigeons, tons of cats, good restaurants. And lots of walking possibilities - beyond this headland and the marina is another fortress-crowned headland, with another long beach beyond that.

We’d be happy to stay here another day if we had one to spare, really. But we’d not be staying at the same hotel if we did. It easily gets our vote for worst hotel of the tour. Among other things, we resent the fact that this expensive three star hotel (the only place we could find lodging here on short notice on this holiday weekend) doesn’t have strong enough WiFi to upload the day’s video. We’ll bring it in later.

Aguilas is the first town for awhile with enough attractions to be worth a post of its own. I’ll dump some photos into a separate post when I get the time, but in the meantime here is a bit of local color to tempt you to come back:

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Ride stats today: 28 miles, 1,000’; for the tour: 2,259 miles, 93,800’

Today's ride: 28 miles (45 km)
Total: 2,259 miles (3,636 km)

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Jen RahnWe'll have to remember your reflection about Andalucía as we contemplate a Vuelta a Iberia-like tour.
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnIt’s pretty remarkable alright, and we didn’t even get to some of the real highlights of the region. I feel confident that we’ll make it back again some year if health permits. It would make an awesome loop to include Andalucia, Extramedura and southern Portugal.
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5 years ago

Jen RahnTo Scott AndersonOK. I copied this comment and pasted to my Bike Tour recommendation document.

Thanks!

Maybe we'll even be lucky enough to cross paths.
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5 years ago

Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnBetter here than the endless suburbs of Denver, I’d think.
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5 years ago