Garrucha: Harbor, History and Beach

Coast

Garrucha combines the coast with a visibly maritime local history. The Paseo del Malecón is a promenade along the waterfront approximately one kilometer long. Its balustrade is made of white Macael marble and directs the view toward the fishing harbor. As a result, the promenade and harbor form a shared local context that is also reflected in the other sights and festivals.

Playa de Garrucha offers nautical rentals, a yacht club, showers, a sports area and a children’s area. The beach section thus combines various specifically named facilities with Garrucha’s coastal setting.

Discover more places at Huércal-Overa, Bayárcal, Beires, Gérgal, Los Gallardos, Arboleas, La Cañada and Purchena.

History and Architecture

The Castillo de Jesús Nazareno was built in 1769 and is a coastal defense fortress. The complex includes a semicircular artillery battery facing the sea. Two round towers stand on the flanks. The complex thus preserves several clearly recognizable elements of its coastal-oriented architectural design.

The Antigua Chimenea is known as Calvario. It was built at the end of the 19th century as a pyramid-shaped chimney for Garrucha’s former mineral smelting works. The Chimenea is 72 feet high and now features a pedestrian area as well as a viewpoint. Its current design combines the historic structure with a publicly accessible area.

The Iglesia de San Joaquín was inaugurated in 1861 and has an unusual façade.

Maritime Culture

Nautarum is an interpretation center for the maritime world and its culture in the Castillo de Jesús Nazareno, the Castillo de las Escobetas in Garrucha. The Nautarum viewpoint includes a compass rose. It demonstrates how ships can be identified on the horizon by their silhouettes.

Nautarum has a room dedicated to shipping and fishing. This room presents the fishing gear used locally and also displays the fish species caught most frequently. The maritime presentation therefore covers both the work involving the equipment and the catches described as characteristic of the area.

Harbor, Cuisine and Festivals

Fresh fish and fresh seafood are auctioned daily at the Lonja and in the harbor of Garrucha. The boats from Garrucha land these catches there. Garrucha’s local cuisine is particularly known for its famous red shrimp, the Gamba roja. The harbor economy and cuisine are therefore part of the same thematic context as the maritime exhibition and the history of fishing.

At the festival in honor of the Virgen del Carmen, participants are served a traditional sardine barbecue at the Lonja. The festival also includes a maritime procession in which the image is carried on a boat.

The traditional Noche de San Juan is celebrated on June 23. At midnight, people go into the water at the beach and light a bonfire.

For the general travel overview: Almeria.