Guide to murcia

Murcia in Spain; well know by Spanish Tourists, but foreigners? They usually prefer the crowded beaches of the Costa Blanca, Costa del Sol or Costa Brava. The Coast of Murcia, Costa Calida, is the best example of what people would like to see in Spain; Spanish bars, restaurants and..... Spanish people....

Don't think it's quiet here in the summer, because the Spanish themselves have discovered this area decades ago. In July and August they arrive with their families and enjoy every minute of their well deserved summer holiday.

If you're a foreigner like me, you can really see the difference between Spanish tourists and foreigners. Whereas the people from Northern Europe like to have some privacy on the beach, the Spanish prefer to be close to eachother. They don't mind if your umbrella touches theirs....

Anyway.... The beaches of the Murcia region are great, some very quiet and nice and sandy, some very busy in the summer or some pebble beaches with cristal clear water. The 255km coastline is really worth a visit....or more....

In this 6 series of the Guide to Murcia I'm going to tell you everything you need to know about historical places to visit, sports and activities, fiesta's, how to get there, where to stay and what the weather is like.

Hope you will enjoy this serie of your Guide to Murcia.

In this part of the Guide to Murcia I'm going to give you some tips on where to go for historical places in Murcia. Now this may sound boring, but even if you don't like museums, castles or old building, you probably like the atmosphere of an historical city or the bars and outside terraces for a drink....

Murcia Capital

Murcia the City is the Capital of the Region of Murcia. The Automomous region Murcia is also the same as the Province of Murcia... Can you follow....?

Murcia was founded in 825 by the Morish. The centre of this sparkling city is the 18th century square, La Glorieta. In the car-free main street, Calle the Traperia, the casino is situated. This building is a mensclub from 1847, entirely in Arab style. The Calle La Traperia ends up on the cathedral of Murcia which is built on the bases of a mosque.

In Murcia you can still feel the presence of the Morish, but altough the city has a long history, they don't stay in the past. Besides all the historical buildings, Murcia also has one of the largest new Shopping malls in Spain, which attracts people from 100's of km's away. It's also has a modern extensive University Complex. Murcia is also well known for it's Fiesta's, which I will tell more about in another part of the Guide to Murcia.

Cartagena

Cartagena is a city which you cannot skip when you visit the Spanish Costa Calida. It offers an ideal combination of history and atmosphere with modern facilities.

The old centre is protected by the old sea-wall, Murella del Mar. At the end of this wall is the townhall, a masterpiece of modern architecture, with a majestic marble entrance. This has recently been fully restored, so you can see what it looked like over a 100 years ago.

Visit the Teatro Romano (first century b.c.) which is currently being fully rebuilt as it was in roman times. This is a rare opportunity to view part of roman life 2000 years ago. To recover from your visit you can settle at one of the many terraces of the car-free centre or you can go shopping. The new marina with the many yachts and cruiseliners give a feeling of luxury and wealth and it's vastly becoming one of the most popular marina's in the area. Part of it's impressive history can be witnessed in the yearly fiesta "Cartagineses y Romanos" where they celibrate the victory of Roman soldiers on Hannibal's men.

Lorca

Lorca is situated in the south-west of the Murcia region and is very close to the border with Andalucia. Lorca has a large variety of historical buildings, such as Roman Villas, Churches and castles.

One place you cannot skip when you visit this Medieval city is the Lorca Castle which overlooks this town. This Moorish fort was built between the 13th and 15th Century and its two towers that are still conserved today.

Next time read more about the Fiesta's in the Guide to Murcia

YAHOO ! FIESTA ! And no, I don't mean that Search Engine....

No it's the single most exiting thing to do in Spain, visit or participate in a fiesta. Most people know the standard fiesta's in Spain, like the bull runs in Pamplona or the Carnaval, but did you know there are more than 3000 fiesta's in the whole of Spain. That means you can visit 10 fiesta's every day....pfff.......

In Murcia they know how to party too.... Here are some of my favorites;

Semana Santa in Lorca

This is the most important week in Spain, with regards to fiesta's. Every village of any significance will have it's own parade with floats, but in Lorca... They go one step further.... The parade goes through the main streets of Lorca and has tribune seats on both sides of the roads. The first thing you notice when you arrive, before the parade starts is the sand in the streets. It's to protect the horses that take part in the parade. When the parade starts you can see different floats, some decorated with flowers, some tell the story of Christ or roman times. The floats with Maria Magdelin are very impressive, for me the highlight of the parade. They are usually carried by 20-30 people, sometimes only men or women. When you see them coming closer in a distance, you feel the tension. They swing the incredibly heavy float from left to right and sometimes you hear the drums swell in the rhythm of the swing. It makes such an impression on the spectators on the side that everyone is quiet. As they get closer, you see that the carriers of the float are emotional and sometimes cry. When you see that, you cannot help but feel overwelmed by so much passion. For them it's a huge honour to carry that float.

The other part of Semana Santa in Lorca is the 'Battle' between Azules (Blue) and Blancos (white), which are each situated on one side of the street. They all have their scarf in their color, and take every opportunity to tell the other side of the street that they are a lot better and will win. They hold very emotional speeches, sometimes even children get emotional and shout to their opponants across; "Viva Azul , Viva Azul ! " They cheer for the people on horses that perform shows for their color. Obviously every team want to perform best and it seems this friendly battle is taken very seriously!

There's lot's more to see in Semana Santa in Lorca and I can promiss you, you want easily forget it....

Carnaval in Aguilas

Carnaval in Aguilas has become one of the largest fiestas in the area and there are more and more participants every year. The parade goes on for hours and hours and surprisingly has a lot of young children. How they can walk this distance with heavy suits, I don't know. The Carnaval mostly resembles the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro, because it's all feathers.... Nearly everyone is dressed in bikini and large feather costumes while the music plays lively summer music.

The local fiesta's are more difficult to find, but worthwhile the search; eg. there's the Sardine festival in Bolnuevo or several small Flamenco festivals in El Pareton and Fuente Alamo. Because the Spanish celibrate every fiesta with a meal, you will usually find a Paella Gigante, the Paella pans of 3 or more meters in diameter.

In all these fiesta's you won't meet a lot of tourists, because it's not a holiday season. This way you can really see how the Spanish are; friendly and enjoying life....

Next time I will tell you more about the Climate of Murcia.

In the last 3 parts I told you about the great fiesta's of Murcia and the historical places to visit in the region of Murcia. In this part, I will tell you what the weather in Murcia is like, or better the Climate of Murcia.

The climate in Spain has a huge variety, from the windy and rainy North-West Coast, to the dry and hot South-East coast on the Mediterranean Sea. Murcia is, together with Almeria, the dryest area of Spain. The average rainfall is about 1/3 of that in Northern Europe, and most days when it rains, it's heavy rain on one day. The next day can be sunny again. That's why you can see floods in Spain, which in the last couple of years have done quite some damage. Murcia is blessed with one of the best climates in Europe, possibly worldwide. The winters are mild, with temperatures of 18 degrees celcius and the summer can sometimes be higher than 40 degrees celcius.

This region has on average 3000 hours of sun and over 300 sunny days! Yes, that's right 300 sunny days. That means you can wear a T-Shirt all year round!

The downside of this dry climate is the shortage of water. Some months there's no rain and the water reservoirs dry up. That's why the government sometimes decides to cut off the water supply for a while, to prevent major problems.

The absence of water also explains why Murcia looks like a desert, because it nearly is. You will not see any trees, unless they are irrigated. Having said that, there are of course higher areas, which are colder, have a higher humidity and therefor have forests, like the Sierra Espuña.

This fantastic climate makes Murcia one of the best areas to live in, especially since it's so low on pollution.

Next time I will tell you something about the activities in Murcia, from finding the best beaches to paragliding in L'Azohia.

Ever been to Murcia? If so, I bet you didn't about all the things you could have done in this area.

• For instance, you can go paragliding in the Sea or from the Mountains of Bolnuevo and L'Azohia. It's a great way to see the area!
• What about whale and dolphin watching, just off the Coast of L'Azohia (thanks Pete of Polaris World Property for the picture!)
• Take a curative mud bath in Lo Pagan, near San Pedro del Pinetar
• Go rockclimbing, mountain biking or hiking in of many mountain areas
• Take a golf tour. There are over 50 quality golf courses in the Murcia region. They don't call it the Golf Capital of Spain for nothing!
• You can also go Horse riding in the Sierra Espuña, Scuba Diving in the Bay of Mazarron, waterskiing or kitesurfing in the warm sea.

Did I miss anything....? Probably so, but it's up to you to find out and tell me about it!

Murcia is situated in the South-East of Spain, on the Mediterranean Sea.

By Car

Coming from France, you can ake the Motorways in the East or West, whatever you prefer. The Barcelona side has Toll roads, whereas the motorways near Madrid are free. Driving from the North of Europe, it's best to have an overnight stop in Southern France, since it's long drive to the South of Spain. In France there are a lot of cheap hotels, right along the motorway.

By Plane

Travelling by plane can be quite a lot cheaper since the tickets are usually affordable, especially off season.

Here are some low fare airlines to Murcia Airpoirt (San Javier):

• www.Jet2.com
• www.easyjet.com
• www.ryanair.com
• www.flymonarch.com
• www.airberlin.com
• www.bmibaby.com

Was this information helpfull? If you require more information, please visit the website Murcia Holiday