What you can see on the Almuñécar webcam
The camera stands on a villa terrace above the coves west of the town, so a private pool and a palm tree fill part of the picture. Beyond them, wooded slopes fall to the bay of Cotobro, and Almuñécar rises on its hill on the far side, with the dark rocks of the Peñones de San Cristóbal just offshore. It plays as a time-lapse of the last 24 hours.
Almuñécar webcam over Cotobro and the San Cristóbal rocks
From the terrace of a hillside villa above the coves on the west side of Almuñécar, this camera looks east along the Costa Tropical. The villa's own swimming pool fills the lower right corner and a palm tree stands in the middle of the frame, but beyond them the view opens out: wooded slopes dotted with white houses fall to the sea, the small bay of Cotobro lies below the cliffs, and the town of Almuñécar climbs its hill on the far side, with the dark Peñones de San Cristóbal just offshore. The mountains of the Sierra de la Almijara rise on the left. It is a good way to check the colour of the sea, the swell against the rocks and the sky over the coast. It plays here as a time-lapse of the last 24 hours.
Phoenicians, Romans and tropical fruit
Almuñécar is one of the oldest towns on the coast. The Phoenicians founded a colony here, called Sexi, in about 800 BC, and it became a busy port that salted fish for Greece and Rome; the locals still call themselves sexitanos. On the hill above the old town stands the castle of San Miguel. The mild climate gives the coast its name: the valleys behind the town are planted with avocados, custard apples and mangoes, rare crops in Europe.
When to watch Almuñécar
Almuñécar is one hour ahead of the UK and Ireland. The mountains shelter the coast from the north, so winters are mild and summers long. The camera faces east, into the morning sun; the afternoon pictures are better lit. The beaches here are mostly of grey sand and pebbles, and the camera shows when the sea is calm enough for a swim or snorkelling along the rocks.
Around Almuñécar
The municipality has 19 km (12 miles) of coastline with eighteen beaches, among them the sheltered bay of La Herradura, 5 miles (8 km) to the west. Nerja and its caves are about 15 miles (24 km) along the coast towards Málaga, and Granada and the Alhambra about 49 miles (78 km) inland.
Getting to Almuñécar
Málaga airport, with flights from all over the UK and Ireland, is about 58 miles (94 km) away by road along the A-7 coast motorway. Granada's airport is a similar distance inland.