Costa Tropical in November - Salobreña

Monday is our last day in Almunecar and we decide to visit Salobreña, another of the places I've been curious about for a long while. The bus to Salobreña takes just 15 minutes and we decide to get the 10.30 one. This means that we get off to a relaxing start looking at the sunrise from the bed and listening to the waves. It's a particularly beautiful sunrise due to some clouds a little above the horizon. 

We leave to walk to the bus station so early that what with dawdling around and chatting and being convinced we are early we forget about the notoriously long queues at the Alsa ticket office and nearly don't make it.

The lady in the Salobreña tourist office, just across from where the bus drops us, is very helpful and  provides us a map with the main points of interest. We go up and down the historical centre vaguely trying to follow the map and her instructions and mostly going the wrong way which means we unexpectedly find some really delightful corners.

The old centre is quite inhabited as far as it is reachable by car, a lot quieter and with many properties for sale up and down steps and the narrowest streets. It's not a 'perfect' pueblo blanco like Frigiliana in the sense it's not all recently painted, full of flowers and without a neglected corner but it's a pleasant and quiet place to explore, we see just a handful of other tourists. There are Miradores everywhere, a pretty main square, 

a lot of bougainville. We see the outside of the Mudéjar style church, 

the Bóveda arch and the Paseo de Flores at the foot of the castle. Definitely a Paseo, but no flowers and a little neglected but good views.

Anyway, it's a very untouristy place, I don't see one tourist shop, and a nice way to spend an hour or so. It's getting towards lunchtime so we make our way down to the beach. The weather isn't the best today, the sky over the sea is dark grey and it's blowing a gale. We have checked on TripAdvisor and decided on Chiringuito Casa Emilio which seems to have consistently good reviews and offers a menu del día at 9.50€ for a starter, main, dessert, bread.

Inside it's very nice, an unusual decor of dark wood and rope and thick dark yellow table cloths with dark blue paper ones on top. We order two beers to drink and the waiter also brings us a very generous tapa of cazón en adobo and olives. For first we choose gazpacho, good, and one sopa de mariscos, an equally good seafood broth. For second two mixed fried fish. We literally can't believe our eyes at the enormous plateful that arrives. I have never seen such a fritura de pescado! There are octopus tentacles, squid, sardines, more of the delicious cazón, one small fish and even one large fish, all fried to perfection! 

I'm amazed that such a portion can be part of a menu del día! We take it slowly, and it's delicious, but it really is a lot. In the meantime the view of the darkish sand, the grey sky and rough sea is quite dramatic. Outside the windows a single flower of Bougainville keeps getting whipped around by the wind, always coming to land in the same place. There are quite a few people in the restaurant now, a couple just behind us have ordered a plate of tropical fruit which would deserve a photo. Menú del día also includes a dessert so we just manage to get on top of a cheesecake and an ice-cream. Not bad, but the fried fish was undoubtedly the highlight. There's no doubt I have eaten way too much and I have a few moments in which I wonder if it was wise, especially when, after paying the extremely moderate bill (total €26.50 for two menus and 3 tubos de cerveza), we go out into the wild wind. We take cover near the Peñon and wrap up a little better but as we start walking along the seafront in the direction of La Caleta it's a little less cold and I realize everything is ok with the digestion after all! This area of the seafront has been recently landscaped with palms and other tropical plants and looks like it's going to be very nice in the next few years.

We walk up steps through a sort of park which has been neglected a bit, there's rubbish and some broken glass here and there, a pity because the area is nice with beautiful views. 

We stop for a boiling hot coffee at the top below the entrance to the castle and are waiting outside when it opens at 4 o'clock. The entrance fee is usually 4 euros but it's free because it's Monday afternoon. It doesn't take long to visit the castle, the best thing about it is the views, 

but the wind is so strong and blustery it discourages us from lingering. It was nice to see for free but I think 4 euros would have been a bit too much comparing it with other attractions in Andalucía. 

We get back down to the bus stop in good time and get the tickets directly on the bus because the ticket office is closed. The wind is still strong in Almunecar and it's nice to get back to the snug apartment where we drink a lot (of water) and have a very light supper.