Almuñécar

As we travelled across northern Spain I read Laurie Lee´s Red Sky at Sunrise (Penguin, 1993). This is a trilogy omnibus of Cider With Rosie (Hogarth Press, 1959), As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (André Deutsh, 1969) and A Moment of War (Viking, 1991). Each story was a recollection of events, as they we all set in the 1930s.

I struggled with Cider With Rosie. In fact, in a rare action for me, I didn't finish it. The story of his early life in the Cotswolds was all too flowery for me, too Darling Buds of May. However, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning was where I wanted to be. It was the story of his leaving home at age 19 and walking to London, then on to walk the length of Spain. Spain was in a real state: it was the depression years, Spain was in not much more than a fuedal state and on the brink of Civil War, which breaks out when he is in Almuñécar. In fact he was rescued from the beach by a British navy destroyer sent from Gibraltar to pick up Brits along the coast, caught out by the war. Almuñécar was called the pseudonym Castillon in early editions published up to the death of Franco.

In the third book, A Moment of War it re-tells his return to Spain in 1937 to volunteer (like George Orwell and many of the Bloomsbury group types. Hemmingway wrote of the war but didn't go), in what I believe was a futile experience, for the International Brigade in the war against Franco. I understand fighting Franco, but the foreigners volunteering was a naive and idealistic notion.

He repays a visit to Almuñécar post civil war in a Rose for Winter, which I will catch up with at some point in the future.

We got back to Antequera after our northern Spain trip on a Friday evening, and I wasn't expecting delivery of the new bike until Tuesday. So we figured, why not a couple of days on the beach. And with Laurie Lee's exploits freshly in mind, why not Almuñécar? It's on the Costa Tropical, in Granada province. Easy to get to: bus to Málaga, another to Almuñecar.

For this part of Spain, it's rather laid back, much more so than the neighbouring Costa del Sol - coastal development is much more subdued. First development here was, believe it, in 8th century BC, by the Phoenicians who called it Sexi - giving today's crop of tourism marketers unlimited opportunities.

A pebbly, grey beach is still quite attractive. It's Spain so there is a castle, built on top of the Moor's alcazar, on top of the Roman's fort, on the Carthagenians' ... the Phoenicians' .... The town has a really neat little Museo Arqueológico.

Ironically, a Christian cross marks the rocky outcrop from which the last of the Moors, lead by the weeping - so they say - Boabdil, said farewell to Al Andalus as they sailed away having suffered defeat at the hands of the Christian reconquista.

There's quite a sad little plaque dedicated to Laurie Lee, acknowledging his visit and books, in a park on the beach front.

Nip into a casco viejo backstreet bar, speak Spanish, and you get dos cervezas y dos tapas for €2.20. A coffee in the tourist preferred plaza centro will set you back €2.50 each.











Caught Arsenal on the tele in a bar Saturday night. A hotel room off the rooftop garden. All pretty easy, but it's off season. Almuñecar is a very popular Spanish destination, not just the Brits and Germans. Back home Monday. Nice little mini-break.

Mad
aka Max