A map of our driving route
by Bwana_Brown
This Google 'Terrain' map gives an overview of the 'orange' driving route we took while in southern Spain, starting from the tiny red dot of Alicante in the upper right corner, where we spent our first two days exploring the countryside. We then picked up our Ford rental car and made the 500-km drive southwest along the coast - directly to Torremolinos with a minimum number of stops for diesel fuel and a snack. We had picked Torremolinos because it is a suburb of the much bigger Malaga but extremely close to Malaga's airport, where we were to meet Sue's sister later in the evening as she flew in from England to join us. The next morning we were off inland for 5 nights, heading directly north before veering off easterly into Granada, then westward to Seville, south to Cadiz on the Atlantic coast and then another couple of nights along the southern coast before returning to Torremolinos so sister could catch her flight back to England. Once on our own, we then backtracked along the coast toward the Atlantic coast where the land touches the very bottom of the map, spending another three nights in that area. Returning to Torremolinos once more for New Year's Eve we then decided we had had enough of the coast for a while. One good tourist option from Torremolinos is to drive east a short distance on the great coastal highway system and then head north into the mountains on the loop road shown on the map, as we headed for the very scenic town of 'Alhama de Granada'. It was a beautiful drive that took us all day as we continued onward to the outskirts of the city of Granada itself before heading straight back down (past the massive Sierra Nevada mountain peaks) toward the coast as we sought out lodgings for our next night.
Gay Scene
by keeweechic
Torremolinos has quite a popular gay scene. There is large number of gay bars and venues as well as shops. Many of the bars do not open until around 11.00pm which are busy on Friday and Saturday nights. The Poseidon beach, close to the tourist office, is probably the most popular.
Picnic in a secluded Olive grove
by Bwana_Brown about Our mobile restaurant
About an hour after leaving the big reservoir at La Viñuela near the start of our trip into the mountains, we had made it over the divide and were in rolling countryside about a half-hour short of Alhama de Granada. It was coming up on noon, and the orange that we had each eaten for breakfast in our room at the hostal had long worn off by then, so we decided to pull over into the entrance of an olive grove located beside the not very busy A-402 highway, as shown here. Throughout the trip we periodically stopped at various supermarkets to keep our supplies of whole wheat bread, cheese, tomatoes, ham and mayonnaise topped up (2nd photo). Sue had the preparation of these sandwiches down to a science and we had some potatoe chips on the side - washed down by a cup of wine each as well as drinks from our water bottles. We both felt better after we had finished our little meal and then continued our drive to see what all the excitement was about in Alhama de Granada.
Water levels were low
by Bwana_Brown
We had only gone a short distance into the river valley before we came to the Viñuela reservoir - the scene was so beautiful that we simply had to stop and actually get out of our car! The Viñuela reservoir became operational in 1989 as a means to control the local water flows so they could be used in a controlled fashion for both home water supply and agriculture. This man-made lake also serves as a means of recreation for the nearby towns and villages. Motorized craft are not allowed to use it and various picnic and recreation sites have been built along its shores. Before the dam was built, it was necessary to undertake excavations at about 18 different sites where the remnants of Roman dwellings were situated - before they were submerged for good.
However, as you can see from this view, rainfall shortages in this part of Spain had left the reservoir severely depleted, with the water level hovering around 20% of its design capacity. As we looked up along the reservoir (2nd photo) we could see blue skies starting to appear - our 'inland' decision was starting to look good!
Beaches
by keeweechic
The beaches stretch for as far as the eye can see. They actually take up around 9 kilometres of pristine coastline. The sand isn’t exactly golden but there is lots of it and it clean and the swimming is safe.
The Monument to Europa
Plaza de Cantabria
Malaga Airport
Vinoteca El Elefante - our host
