The city of Almería that we know today is just over a thousand years old. And its origins are, precisely, from the fear Abderramán I had that the Normans appeared in these coasts wanting to fight.
The Emir ordered to fortify the area and build watchtowers from which they watched the Mediterranean Sea. And as it always happens, that led to a new population. With time the impressive citadel that you can contemplate today would appear, and the no less impressive Jaira Wall, which once surrounded the area.
With such a great set like that, those from here had it easy to choose a symbol. However, what you will see everywhere is something else: a figure with open arms with an arch over its head that someone painted thousands of years ago in a cave in Almería. They called it the Indalo, and although nobody is quite sure what it means, they have always said that it brings luck and protects people. And you know how these things work…
What the Indalo does show is that the area was already inhabited in remote times, and from then until today there have been many cultures here who have left behind their mark. The Romans left a huge port, and the Visigoths and the Byzantines preceded the Arabs, who even established a taifa in here.
Once the Christians were in power, the Cathedral of the Incarnation was built which between earthquakes and reforms has reached us with Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical elements, all in one.
As in many other cities, Almería also decided to knock down its medieval walls in the ninth century looking for space to grow. During the following decades, singular works as the Town Hall, the Central Market and the Cable Inglés (English Pier), a loading bay made of iron in the manner of Gustave Eiffel, would be built.
Then, the movies came. The European Hollywood started in the desert of Tabernas, half an hour from the capital, back in the sixties. Sergio Leone appeared, and with him came Clint Eastwood with a poncho and two pistols. It didn’t take long for the spaghetti western and the Almería desert to become the same thing, even though in here they filmed truly classics of other styles: Laurence of Arabia, Cleopatra, Conan the Barbarian and Indiana Jones laid under the Almería sun, and even Game of Thrones has recorded some scenes in the area.
This has left a few movie sets in the arid area of Tabernas which you must see. We know you are dying to see them!
