San Pedro, Spain

San Pedro, in the natural park of the Cabo de Gata, along the Costa de Almeria, in Andalusia, was such an exceptional place that I kept it to myself for over 15 years! But the inevitable has happened, and people will always talk about good things, which has lead to a profound and sad change of this, what used to be, paradise on earth!


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...that I first heard of San Pedro, 20 years ago. It was during my holidays in Mojacar, not so far north from San Pedro, that my curiosity got me there. To get to San Pedro, I took a bus from Almeria, to Las Negras. Once on Las Negras beach, I turned left and walked over the cliffs, for a good 3 of 4 kilometers along a sometimes very narrow path, by the sea front. Now this is at the same time the advantage, and the disadvantage of San Pedro. It's a ... more

San Pedro, in the natural park of the Cabo de Gata, along the Costa de Almeria, in Andalusia, was such an exceptional place that I kept it to myself for over 15 years! But the inevitable has happened, and people will always talk about good things, which has lead to a profound and sad change of this, what used to be, paradise on earth!

It was through a cockney friend of mine that I first heard of San Pedro, 20 years ago. It was during my holidays in Mojacar, not so far north from San Pedro, that my curiosity got me there. To get to San Pedro, I took a bus from Almeria, to Las Negras. Once on Las Negras beach, I turned left and walked over the cliffs, for a good 3 of 4 kilometers along a sometimes very narrow path, by the sea front. Now this is at the same time the advantage, and the disadvantage of San Pedro. It's a long way to bring your shopping and rucksack, but the path is so bad, that you can't even get a bicycle there, so you won't be disturbed by motorised vehicles of any type, during your stay.

The first glimpse of San Pedro appears whilst you're on the worst part of the path, on the edge of a 30 metre high drop to the sea with sandy collapsing soil under your feet, and a cliff high above you the other side! I brought my kids here once, as they were really good walkers, but I must point out that it is dangerous, and there have been accidents along this path. The easier way to get there, is by boat!

San Pedro is stunning, with its Moor castle runes, white sand beach, turquoise sea and white cliffs. The path arrives just behind the castle, where there is a water fountain from which runs tasty pure water, which has allowed nomads to survive here for centuries. The dimension of the castle in runes is really impressive, and I regret that although I searched high and low, I have not to this day found the reasons as to why and what this colossal structure was used for in such a deserted location. Due to the fountain, the vegetation is flourishing and thick in this part of San Pedro valley.

A few houses in runes below the castle, along the beach are regularly squatted by travellers and tourists who pass here, and who, with time have partly rebuilt them, despite the Guardia Civils repeated attempts to get rid of these "foreign hippies", by regularly burning them down. It's true, San Pedro, 20 years ago counted 99% of non Spanish folk. Mostly German, Norwegian, Dutch, Danish, Swiss, English, and even Canadians squatted this beautiful valley, 2 other fountains further away from the sea front exist, and many, many caves make excellent part time homes for foreign nomads in search of a mild winter.

Deep into the valley a treasure exists... a clay cave! Equipped with a torche, I explored this cavity with a few "foreign locals" and much to our surprise, it lead deep into the mountain. The entrance is about 1m50 high and 50cm large. It almost looks like a man made tunnel, 30cm of which are under water. The walls are of clay, and after about 10 meters of horizontal depth, it is absolutely pitch black inside! I guess we must have sludged through about 150 meters of clay water, before reaching the depths of the cave. A wall of running water was there in front of us, and we could dip out hand fulls of red clay from this caves fountain! Oh course, we didn't waist it, but enthusiastically covered ourselves to make beautifully fine clay body masks! I cannot put photos of this, as they could be considered obscene, but boy, it was fun!!!

Life in San Pedro was unique and magic, I spent many months there, between 1989 and 1996, and rarely saw more than 15 people there at a time. Surviving was the main activity in the valley. Finding wood to make fire to cook on, collecting water and wild herbs, we made ourselves a shower, a wooden house, and, we'd take care to take our bins with us each time we left San Pedro. Going shopping had another dimension to it, with the 7 km walk there and back. Life's rhythm had a sense of freedom to it.

But this has changed. I saw a few videos on Youtube of the recent San Pedro, I almost cried. The castle is almost completely destroyed (compared to the photo I've included), the beach is swarming with tourists, and there is even a beach bar, with a terrace! Boats everywhere, tents everywhere, but I hope that there are not bins everywhere! My paradise is now only in my souvenirs, provoked by the very few photos which I saved of it from that time, my potted bonsai Carob tree, whose seed comes from an incredible specimen in the valley of San Pedro, and especially my good Dutch friend who I met there, with whom the conversation of San Pedro always comes up! I won't go back, but if you're looking for an original outing in a fantastic decor, why not!

Glad to finally share it with you all ;-)
Thanks for reading.
(¯`•.¸ ♥ Squidge ♥ ¸.•´¯) 

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