A relaxed holiday in Almería´s Natural Park Cabo de Gata

AurigaCrown Car Hire offers their clients ideas on different events and places to visit during their stay in Spain. Providing options for visits that are within easy reach with a rental car, nice routes, places to visit and from where to start. In this article some tips when visiting Almería and its surroundings.

For nature and sea lovers, we can recommend the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, at just half an hour from Almería Airport. This natural park has got some of the most beautiful beaches of Spain, with very clean and crystal clear water, perfect for enjoying the underwater life, snorkelling, scuba diving and swimming. Moreover, the underwater flora and sea life of the reserve is protected from commercial fishing. There are large areas of sea grass beds which are a refuge for the monk seal. Look out for pods of dolphins and expect to see sunfish and turtles too.

The centre of activity is based around the coastal town of San Jose, a small fishing port with marina area, a nice sandy beach and many bars and restaurants for a tapa, lunch or dinner. Further you can visit the towns of Rodalquilar which had an old gold mine, Los Escullos, Las Negras, La Isleta del Moro and Aqua Amarga.

Cabo de Gata covers 460 km2 and was designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, it has been protected since 1997. And in 2001 it was included among the Specially Protected Areas of Mediterranean Importance. It is the largest terrestrial-maritime-reserve in the European Western Mediterranean Sea. It is of volcanic origin and one of the driest places in Europe. Despite this, it supports a great variety of flora and fauna, adapted to the arid, salty environment.

Because of the harsh conditions for agriculture and its isolated location, habitation was sparse and kept the area relatively virgin, something rare on the Spanish coast. In 1997, 3.500 people were registered as living within the boundaries of the natural park, but since the UNESCO declaration, tourism boomed and in 1998 there were already over 500.000 tourist visiting the area. Especially during the summer season. Tourists stay in nearby hotels from where they make day trips to the beaches inside the natural park.

South of the village of Cabo de Gata, you can find Las Salinas (the salt lakes) where in the first millennium B.C., the Phoenicians controlled the seawater, which entered through the marshes, in order to extract salt. In this area, the Laguna de Rosa and dunes are home to many bird species. The best known are the pink flamingos but other species such as the avocets, storks and eagles, can be spotted from spring to autumn as well. Very few stay over the winter as the Salinas are drained after the autumn salt harvest. But there are exceptions, like for the rare, Italian Wall Lizard, Spain, in particular this area, is its only habitat.

Summarizing, an excellent place for a relaxed holiday, to enjoy the sea life, nature, beaches and - of course - the fresh fish cuisine. You can conveniently rent your car directly upon arrival at AurigaCrown´s office at Almería airport, and drive in less than half an hour to the Cabo de Gata Nature Reserve. With your rental car you can easily get to all different sights and towns. For more information on rental cars, fleet and prices, please visit AurigaCrown´s website.