Mojácar

People have lived around Mojácar since the Neolithic period. Archaeologist Luis Siret found evidence of early settlement at Cerro Cuartillas, including remains from the Millaran culture, now held in the Museo de Almería and the Museo Arqueológico Nacional. The site of Loma Belmonte yielded finds from the Chalcolithic and Bell Beaker periods, also in the national museum. During the late Roman imperial period, rural settlements clustered around the Río Aguas, with the high points of Cerro del Picacho and Mojácar's castle used for visual control of the Vera depression and coastline.

As the frontier of the Nasrid Kingdom of Granada ran nearby, watchtowers and fortresses were built or reinforced along the boundary. Mojácar was handed over during the Granada War on 13 June 1488. In the 16th and 17th centuries, fear of Berber corsairs led the population to wall the town, and the church of Santa María, built in 1560 over the former mosque, also served a defensive purpose. By 1787 the town had 2,654 inhabitants. Mid-19th-century droughts drove heavy emigration to northern Spain, Europe, and South America. A late 19th-century mining boom brought a narrow-gauge railway connecting Bédar to the port of Garrucha, with loading infrastructure at Playa del Descargador, parts of which survive.

Several sites and structures carry official protected status as Bienes de Interés Cultural: the archaeological sites of Las Pilas–Mojácar la Vieja, Loma de Belmonte, and Cerro Cuartillas; the defensive structures of Castillo de Macenas and Torre Atalaya del Peñón; and the 16th-century Iglesia de Santa María. The surviving remnants of the Bédar–Garrucha mining railway, including the discharge hopper at Playa del Descargador, locomotive depot remains, warehouses, and the 1907 administrative building of the Marqués de Chávarri, are also listed.

Mojácar is the image many people have of an Andalusian white village: cube-shaped houses stacked on a hilltop, visible from the road long before you arrive, with flowers spilling from the balconies. You enter through the Puerta de la Ciudad, rebuilt in the sixteenth century on the site of the Moorish gate, into lanes of arches and small domes.

The church of Santa María, raised in 1560 over the old main mosque, also served as a fortress, and the Moorish fountain with its twelve spouts is one of the village's best-loved corners. In the town hall square the indalo, the prehistoric figure that has become Mojácar's symbol, is set into the paving, and a marble statue honours the Mojaquera, the village women who worked the land through war, drought and emigration.

Mojácar joined Los Pueblos Más Bonitos de España in 2013. The label is awarded by a private association, not the state: a village applies and is audited against around 40 criteria, from how its historic buildings are conserved to the upkeep of its streets, and members are reviewed and can lose it. Mojácar is one of 19 members in Andalucía, out of 126 in Spain. See all heritage towns in Andalucía.

The nearest airport is Almería. Alsa runs buses from Almería to Mojácar roughly three times a day; a single ticket costs €8.20. Buses stop in front of Parque Comercial, shared with city bus services.

Local Line 1 runs a circular city route from the southern end of Mojácar Playa (Hotel Puerto Marina) through the central shopping area, up to the village, back to the shopping centre, and on to the northern beach area at Avenida del Palacio, some stops are request-only. Line 2 connects southern Mojácar Playa with Garrucha and Vera. Line 3 runs from Vera through Garrucha and Mojácar Playa to Carboneras and Playa de los Muertos.

Intercity coaches on Lines 2 and 3 are operated by Autocares Baraza and stop only at key points.