The far west welcomes us to Albaricoques, a corner of Almeria that offers a perfect experience of rural tourism.
This small town is part of the municipality of Níjar, and its natural environment is of great beauty, as it is located on the Natural Park of Cabo de Gata, where you’ll find remarkable beaches such as Rodalquilar, and characteristic desert landscapes such as the Hornillo Valley.
At the beginning we were talking about the Wild West ... do you want to know why? Well, it turns out that Albaricoques is nothing less than the actual setting for many western films of the 60s, such as the famous "Death had a price" or "The good, the ugly and the bad" and among its streets you can find dedicated plaques to different actors of the time.
It was precisely this activity that represented a great increase in its economy, although today tourism is one of its main sectors. Many people may be confused by its name, that’s translates to Apricots, and assume its economy comes from fruit production, however it is dedicated to other types of crops, along with livestock as economic support.
And speaking of its name, are you curious to know its origin? It is as simple as that its first ever inhabitant had the nickname of El Albaricoque (The Apricot), and the town accepted the name as their own.
What can you see in El Albaricoque? Its urban area is divided into several zones. First of all, in the Cortijada de Arriba neighbourhood, we can see old wells and several traditional farmhouses where some movies were filmed, as we mentioned previously.
The Cortijada de Abajo is where the core of the town is located, with buildings such as the parish church, the municipal sports centre or a social room where residents can meet at designated events.
As a curiosity, on the outskirts of the town we can find the Cortijo del Fraile, where the plot of Bodas de Sangre takes place, by the famous writer Federico García Lorca, which can be reached through a hiking route known as Cortijo del Fraile - Montano - El Hornillo, which is well signposted and joins three different farmhouses along its route, showing the authentic popular architecture of the area.
Within the town you can also get to know its gastronomy first-hand, there has a restaurant, and where you can try typical dishes such as porridge or rabbit gurullos (wheat flour pasta), as well as fritá de matanza, dishes that are usually accompanied with two style of potatoes; garlic or what’s known as ‘a poor man potatoes’ .
Fancy a little party? In this town the patron saint festivities are in honour of the Virgin of the Assumption of Mary, and are celebrated during the last weekend of July.
But, in addition, you will also be able to know a very original event, held every year, where scenes from some of the western movies filmed there are represented and known as “Crazy about Western”.
As you can see, Albaricoques is a charming little town in the middle of the Almeria desert and, that is why, it is the perfect place to enjoy a holiday hand in hand with rural tourism, so don't miss the opportunity to visit it.
