In my first visit I only made a quick stop in Aguadulce. I’ve been there again, and also just passing by and looking around.

It is not a top destination, but… almost.

​It seems a nice beach, well secluded by the dry mountains, and… hot, hot, hot.
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In my first visit two visits to Almeria, in 1978 and 1990, I almost had no time to see the city, and equipment to make decent photos.

Recently, I spent holidays in Roquetas de Mar, and forced myself to a deeper visit.

I made it, not too deep as desired, but enough to confirm that is is one of the least touristy cities in Andaluzia, however, something deserves to be posted about Almeria

​Having passed so many times by Antequera and never stopping, I decided to do it this time, however Fernanda was pushing me to hurry back home, and I only had a very quick glimpse.

Just across the border Ayamonte is a temptation to all the Portuguese in holidays in Algarve.

It’s a short and easy trip, but the attractions are not outstanding, and the trips only use to last a couple of hours.

However, it is a good chance to try different food, listening a different language… and filling the cars with cheaper fuel

In 1971 I was about to win an award at the film festival in a city I had never heard of – Benalmadena. I got to know her at a professional event in 2007, but it was during a fortnight on vacation with her family that I collected the impressions and images that I share here.

My first visit to Cadiz, in… my God… 1963 left only tenuous memories of a city mixing well history and modernity.

The second visit was in a rush, and didn’t add much to the first.

After that, we heard people referring to town as a ugly place, reducing the interest to return, but two weeks spent nearby, in Puerto de Santa Maria, forced that visit.

Well, it was a surprise – it is not ugly, and, if we had decided to do the visit in the first days and not in the last ones as we did, we would have done it more than the two times that we did.

We will do it again – I lost my phone, with almost all the images

My visit to Cartaya was to party in New Year’s eve.

I must confess that I almost skipped town, because the hotel was in El Rompido, and the following day was used in Seville.

A nightly stop, and it was all.

​For now!

​Backing beaches

Chiclana de la Frontera is a small city, east of Cadiz, backing a long stripe of sand from the old Sancti Petri to the new one, with the long La Barrosa beach between them.

We’ve been there on Sunday, a “closed” day in Spain, with jammed roads connecting to the beaches, allowing us just a short glimpse of everything.

​Not bad, for a good vacation, it seems!

Yes, that’s the cathedral, but much more. Cordoba is a city that you must not miss.

Just for lunch

In our way back from the beach, I knew that we needed to make a stop for lunch, and that was a good opportunity to make a detour and have a glimpse of Écija.

​The team accepted, and we went!I was surprised by the beauty and historical richness of the city. In the brief hours that we had I couldn’t see much, but I saw enough to desire a new visit.

Surprise

No, I never heard anything about Estepa.

I didn’t even know that it exists, until the day when, returning from the coast, I needed to make a stop for lunch and… Estepa was there.

So, what cam I say?

​Well, just to describe my meal and the look of town around it. With pleasure!

​Fuengirola was the last of the top beaches in Costa del Sol that i visited, to discover that it doesn’t loose in comparison with the big challengers Marbella and Torremolinos.

I spent there two good weeks, without time to get bored or tired (well, the children at my side helped a lot…

Alhambra is something no one should miss, but Granada is much more that that.

The Muslim times are present everywhere in the old city, but all the province has lots of attractive motifs. Some beaches are very good, but you may choose well, because there are many rocky and pebble beach.

​One our distant from town, Sierra Nevada is a famous winter destination, and a cool summer spot.

On the way to Roquetas de Mar, Jaén was a perfect place to stop and have lunch.

Some more minutes to have a glimpse of the city, whose notes and pictures will appear in Jaén page as soon as possible.

One, two, many times passing by  Jerez de la Frontera always going elsewhere, always skipping the city. This time, spending two weeks in Puerto de Santa Maria, I decided to take a day to visit it. Interesting!

Málaga is a nice town, but I must confess that I always passed there towards the coast and the many and good beaches. Staying in Torremolinos, the visit of Málaga it’s easy, and a temptation, but, being with some women, Málaga is only a very commercial city… if you know what I mean!

In my first visit I hadn’t developed yet the technique of using “El Corte Inglês” time to visit the city, but now I did.

Yes, I could collect some details and build Málaga page.

I’ve been in Marbella several times, always searching for… beach, of course.

​I’ts a large touristy destination, everything planned to supply beach and entertainment to European tourists, with the known Spanish professionalism.

The beaches are not outstanding, the water is generally mild (not in my last vacation there), and restaurants, bars and clubs appear everywhere as mushrooms. However, in this last visit, I noticed that TOO many shops were closed, evidencing the economic crises that remains in Europe.​

All my experiences in Marbella may be seen in my Marbella page (well… as soon as I finish writing them!)

Driving to the coast with kids, I had to plan a stop for lunch, and, having read that in Osuna there was an interesting thing to show to the kids, I planned to visit this city.

Well, the quarry is really interesting, the lunch was reasonable, and, not having much more to see, Osuna didn´t delay our trip, so, stopping there was a wise decision.

First visit by night gave only a rough idea (and no photos).

Staying in Marbella we made another visit with time, confirming that it is not better than Marbella unless you travel by boat or need to spend more money.

The revenge of Puerto Banus against my negative impression was brutal, ans when I started making pictures everything was covered by a dense fog.

We spent two weeks in Puerto de Santa Maria, as a matter of fact “close” to the city, in a good villa by the sea.

Driving and parking is not easy, and after a couple of attempts, the daily visit of town started to be made by bus, with a regular and cheap program.

We enjoyed the vacation, and the city, not being outstanding, has some beauty, and a few interesting points

Ronda is a very well promoted city in Spain, to feel the “spirit of Andaluzia”. It is a interesting city, but, when I read people hesitating between one of the three “monsters” of Andalucia (Seville, Granada and Cordoba) and Ronda I get confused.

There is no comparison – Ronda is a very interesting adding to a visit, a very good stop while travelling around, but it is not a real alternative to any one of the three local “must see”.

That’s why I only visited Ronda after many visits to the province, repeating some of the other cities.

​Of course, my visit will be described in my Ronda page. Be my guest.

The very arid area of Almeria and the greater distance from most resorts on the Costa del Sol, made Roquetas de Mar one of the last bathing areas experienced by the family.

An authentic oasis, Roquetas provided an excellent holiday that surprised us all.

Seville is… the universal image of Spain, my favorite city in the country, as I confirm in its own page.

Do I need to say more?

Andalucia, the most traditional region of Spain is also served by a large coast with mild water.

Many places suffered from heavy construction, with problems of landscape preserving and qualified structures.

Torremolinos was one of the first big investments, and it is, today, a large city tourist orientated. Not far from Portuguese border it is one of the top destinations for us, and I’ve been there several times, since the first one in… 1963.

​The changes are so big that I always meet a different Torremolinos