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Almeria – truly Spanish or just rubbish? A city between nature parks and greenhouse plantations. Between lifestyle and exploitation, culture and destruction, between water and desert. And of course the question of where and how kitesurfing can be described in this region.
Pure Spanish lifestyle
If you look for an apartment in the streets of this small Andalusian town, you will be surrounded by Spanish music and fun-loving people. But be careful: people here don't speak Spanish, they speak Andalusian. And no, it's not just a slight accent, it's a language of its own. It's comparable to going to the deepest part of Upper Palatinate to learn German. Sounds difficult? Is it?
Nonetheless: For breakfast there is the best croissant in the world from a small family bakery next door, and in the evening a free tapa with every beer. Feeling good and a good atmosphere are guaranteed. If you live in the Zapillo district, the whole thing is topped off by the fact that you are always just a stone's throw away from the sea. With a bit of luck, you don't even have to leave your own apartment to take a look out over the big, wide sea. And yes, the kite spot El Zapillo is right on the doorstep. Especially in the months of January to March, advanced kite surfers really often come out onto the water here. Sounds perfect, right? It is, and it even goes further.
Almost paradisiacal: kitesurfing in the Cabo de Gata Natural Park
If you drive a few kilometers east along the coast from Almeria, past the kite spot Costacabana , you will reach the Cabo de Gata nature reserve . Places like San José , La Isleta or Carboneras not only attract visitors with their beautiful beaches and impressive nature, but also with other interesting kite spots , such as Playa de los Genoveses . It is almost like paradise. If you consider that the entire nature reserve is a huge volcanic landscape, the strange rock shapes on the beaches are also understandable. Fly agaric stones or walls like a giant knife block - there are a number of images that can be interpreted in the almost mystical-looking lava rock.
The Paradox: The Second Face of the Almería Region
But every dormant volcano brings its dangers, right? When you look at it that way, the entire region around Almería is one giant volcano, not just Cabo de Gata. And this volcano is about to erupt, something that has been awaited for decades. If you look around Almeria on one side, there is the glittering sea and the sun kissing the sand. But if you dare to look to the other side, everything is just white: plastic plantations, greenhouses, mountains of garbage. One of the richest cities in Spain, El Ejido, not far from Almeria and the kite spots in Almerimar and around Roquetas de Mar , is the centre of this sea of plastic. Never heard of it? It is the fruit and vegetable garden of Europe. In Germany, France and Great Britain, we get most of our tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, avocados and strawberries from this region. Ironically, sold as “ripened in the Spanish sun”. Countless greenhouses swallow up several towns here, and there is hardly anything else to see except white roofs. This human work can even be seen from space. Foreign harvest workers work on the plantations for starvation wages, live in makeshift wooden huts and are constantly exposed to the climate of the hottest region in Europe.
On the other hand, the region is becoming increasingly wealthy thanks to the enormous export figures. Golf courses, Michelin-starred restaurants and festively decorated promenades right by the sea offer tourists a very unique holiday atmosphere. But when will this volcano erupt? It is hardly possible to irrigate the plantations anymore, the groundwater is already being tapped. Where Europe's only desert is located just a few kilometers inland around Tabernas, the coastal towns are the stronghold of the European vegetable trade. How long can this work and what will it do to the Almeria region? This question probably still remains unanswered.
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