The waters of the province of Almería conceal an underwater world of sublime richness. Off its coast, the Mediterranean marine life meets the Atlantic species of all kinds that live together in a spectacular amalgam of biodiversity, undoubtedly fed by the reserves and nature parks in the province. Lobsters, sunfish, rays, pollock and, if we are lucky, the odd visits from turtles, tunas and dolphins, make the enclave a magnificent spot for divers all year round. Can you imagine going into the water in the sun and looking back over your shoulder at the snowy peaks of the Sierra de Gádor? On the Almeria coast you can. From Roquetas de Mar to Villaricos, Almeria

On the coast of Huelva, just 15 kilometres from Punta Umbria, tidal movements have built up sand over hundreds of years and, between Piedras estuary and the Atlantic Ocean, have created a paradise of a golden beach 12 kilometres long. Some call it the Rompido Arrow, others New Umbria and it is more similar to the Caribbean coast than Huelva. Three Euros and four minutes get you there. Each day a boat crosses the few tourists who want to explore this virgin beach dotted with gorse. Here there are no bars, no showers, and no supermarkets. Only sand and sea. The surf is not very strong due to the river currents and many take advantage of the tranquillity of the area to do nudism. In the

Spain has a smaller scale replica of the Tower of Pisa. The original took 177 years to build, but its Spanish version took a million years and so maybe we should say that Pisa has a version of the Valporquero Tower. The author of this small work of art is nothing but water, which has produced other curious shapes such as a reproduction of La Piedad and a ghost. All of these lie in a special underground museum, the Valporquero cave. In Vegacervera in the region of León there is a small village called Valporquero de Torío. A few dozen houses line the road in no particular order. There is nothing that makes you think that we are before one of the most important natural phen

You get the impression that Mother Nature knew exactly where to place the Isla del Rey. She protected it within the shell of another larger island, Minorca, and placed it at an equal distance from the two sides of the port, the second-largest natural port in Europe. In other words, she kept the island sufficiently separated to keep all foreigners who inhabited it a cautious distance away from the rest of Menorca and sufficiently nearby to shout out a welcome from either side of the port. This tiny island of hardly four hectares has been in the hands of several nationalities, and each one has brought something different. To start with, the Muslims invaded it and took over the Isla de l

The coasts of white sand and cliffs of the the Cíes islands have always been a refuge for restless people: the Barbarians escaping from the Roman Empire, the Pirates in search of the treasures of the Galician estuaries or the hippies desirous of peace and love at the end of the dictatorship found sanctuary there. Still today, sitting on the Monte do Faro with a view of the whole archipelago, one can have one of these rare moments when the mind goes blank and the problems are whisked away. Always irreducible, the Islas Cíes are for getting away from life, not for living. Their climate, cold and rainy in the winter, conceals the sunny paradise that shines in the summer. S

The warm waters of the Mar Menor (a salt water Mediterranean Lagoon in the region of Murcia), protected by its enviable geographic position from storms and strong currents, are perfect for water sports such as sailing and diving, but this is not the only attraction. The area’s benign Mediterranean climate a large part of the year, together with a special cuisine which highlights varieties of fish such as the salted or skin down gilthead or the flathead mullet bring in so many visitors that the authorities had to establish legal protection for a series of natural places. These are known as ‘Open spaces and islands of the Mar Menor’ and are spread over three coastal munici