Beaches, Palm Trees, Moros & Cristianos

You can’t have a road trip without hitting the road, so I rented a car, which is really surprisingly cheap in Spain (50 euros for 3 weeks!!) and made my way south down the east coast along the Mediterranean sea.

This coast is full of smaller beach towns with resorts and hotels. One town even had a very British feel to it for some reason (Pubs, Fish ‘n Chips, etc…), I guess that’s where a lot of people from England come to catch up on lack of sun. I managed to stop at three different beaches, all free and open to everyone including a hidden Pebble beach, and all with very different vibes before reaching the town of Elche; the Palm tree capital of Spain.

When this area was still Andalucia, the Moors brought Date Palm trees to Elche and set up the irrigation system, which is still being used today. Now the palm trees are the city’s main tourist attraction and the thousands of acres of Palm tree orchards are also an important source of income for the city. At the tourist office you get a Palm Tree Map, which guides you through the city and orchards and highlights some special palm trees to see, which usually have a unique shape or form. After following the Palm Tree route and eating a few dates, which you can literally find everywhere on the ground, I made my way to my final destination for the day; Murcia. The city, where my family name actually originates from (just the name though and not really my family).

As luck would have it, I had arrived on the Feria weekend, when they celebrate the Christians and Moors and the origin of the city. When I first heard this, I actually thought that this would be about how the christians took the city back from the evil and barbaric moors, but actually I was surprised to see them celebrating both the muslim and christian history of the city.
It was really inspiring to see the crescent and cross light up the city’s streets at night.

This region is known mainly for the agriculture, so a lot of the stands at the fair ground were of huge family orchards from the region, who were selling food made by ingredients from their crops. The fair ground also hosted some impromptu street concerts with some folk music and impressive dancing by surprisingly a lot of younger people.

There was also a main street parade, which featured different groups of moors representing the different moor tribes that came across the city followed by the spanish groups as well. The parade was so long, that I actually left after about 90 minutes of moor tribes and came back 90 minutes later and it was still going with the spanish groups!!

Another event that highlighted the celebrations was a bull fight that took place the next day, which was overshadowed by a university football match that was taking place right next to it. Although that could also be because these bull fights are usually quite expensive to attend.

Otherwise, the city’s biggest tourist attraction is the Cathedral, which is in the center of the city and was the backdrop of a play that took place that night. Again about the first moor tribes who came to the city and their love for their city, MURCIA!

This was the first beach stop along the east coast at a small town called Denia. The water was a bit cold since it was September, but in return the tourists that were there were mainly local.

The hidden pebble beach. The sound of the water washing up on the shore was very different here.

It was hidden in this small lagoon.

I will meet you beneath the palm tree…. Uhh, which one, Elche is full of them!??

This was one of the Palm trees featured on the Elche tourist map.

And here is it’s story.

The Moors also brought Cactus with them.

Another special palm tree, with mini palm trees growing out of it’s trunk.

One cool thing about southern Spain, is that you can find fresh drinking water fountains everywhere for free. This was my view as I filled my water bottle.

Viva Espana!

Some street art along the way.

Followed by some of Nature’s art.

A small glimpse at one of the many palm tree orchards of Elche.

A tribute to princess Leia?

Part of the moorish irrigation system that still runs through the city today.

At night when the park along the banks is light up, the graffiti on the ground come to life.

Moros & Cristianos…. The cross and the crescent.

One of the many, many, way too many Moor tribes that took place in the parade.

Ali baba style!

The entrance to the fair grounds, where the different farmers had their food tents set up.

Another Feria highlight was this petting zoo for kids, because… why not!? There was also a wake boarding competition taking place on the river that flows through the city.