This village with a fishing tradition is situated practically inside the natural park of Cabo de Gata-Nijar, only about 60 kilometres away from the capital city, and is famous for its festivities of Moors and Christians and for having the biggest desalination plant in Europe.
The village of Carboneras, unlike the majority of the villages in Almeria that are originally Arab, dates back to the 16th century. During the year 1559, Phillip the 2nd handed over these lands with the order of building a defensive area against possible Moorish revolts after the conquest. The construction of the San Andres Castle also caused that the population settled around the fortress creating this way the small village of Carboneras.
Carboneras has almost 15 kilometres of beaches, some them are open to nudism and are very peaceful. Amongst these nudist beaches in Almeria are the Corral beach and the beach of The Dead in the natural park of Cabo de Gata, this last one is considered one of the best beaches in Spain for the practice of nudism and its name is due to that in the past the dead bodies of the castaways would reach these coasts brought in with the currents.
The Algarrobico beach also corresponds to this municipality, location of the filming of the famous movie Lawrence of Arabia. Other beaches that are worth mentioning for their popularity during the summer are El Ancon, Los Barquicos and Los Cocones.
Carboneras has unspoilt beaches, that unfortunately have wanted to be commercially exploited with places that are not very recommended like the hotel in the Algarrobico beach.
One of the main tourist attractions in Carboneras are their festivities of the Moors and Christians, where there are parades and they dramatize the battles between the two armies in places like the beach and the San Andres castle.
Like in the rest of the sea villages in Spain, they celebrate the night of San Juan along the whole beach, an originally pagan festivity where they welcome the summer solstice with bonfires and they make wishes at midnight of the 23rd of June.
Another one of the tourist attractions in Carboneras that has nothing to do with popular festivities and celebrations are their water sports: sailing and scuba diving, that offer the tourist an entertainment to enjoy on the coast of Carboneras.
If we wish to visit the different monuments in Carboneras, we recommend the following:
The Fishing Port, built in 1991, provides Carboneras with an area for its recreational and fishing boats.
The San Andres Island, declared Natural Monument, is a small island of volcanic origins that is situated a short distance away from the coast of Carboneras (approx. 400 metres)
The Roldan Table Castle, built in the 18th century to defend the area from the pirate attacks and is accessible from the beach of The Dead along an asphalted road.
The Tower of the Ray: It’s the oldest building, built by the Arabs during their reign to defend the coast. It’s currently in ruins.
The San Andres Castle: The most important monument, which gave the city its origin, was built during the 16th century. Today it’s partially reformed and has been declared Monument of Cultural Interest.
If you don’t have a vehicle of your ownm you can take a bus from Almeria, as it’s only 60 kilometres away. If you go by car from Malaga, you’ll be able to see the distance on the following map where the route appears drawn on it:
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