Mojácar Pueblo

The most beautiful white village in Almería

Since 2003, Mojácar Pueblo has officially been one of the most beautiful white villages in Spain. Every year a new jury evaluates this and we are always there 🙂

The village is located at the end of the Sierra Cabrera in the east of the province of Almería, on a hill about 170 metres above sea level. It is definitely a wonderful destination to spend your holidays.

This particular village is divided into two areas: Mojácar Pueblo (the village) and Mojácar Playa (the beach). Its clean beaches stretch for about 17 km and many have the blue flag seal of approval, guaranteeing carefree bathing fun.

The Village

Mojácar Pueblo already looks impressive from a distance.

The houses are located on top of a small mountain, the last foothill of the Sierra Cabrera. Their white façades stand in high contrast to the brown shades of the surroundings and the bright blue of the sky and the sea. The roofs are flat or terraced and leave you with the idea that the houses are cubic. From the outside, you can only imagine the labyrinth of streets and alleys.

Inside, then, you discover the charming beauty of the narrow streets. The walls of the houses are decorated with colourful flowers that blend in beautifully with the white of the houses and the intense blue of the sky. Every corner catches the visitor’s eye and takes you back to the Moorish past. Spectacular views suddenly pop up in many places – of the sea to the east, the vast plain with the Rio Aguas to the north-west, or the Sierra Cabrera to the south.

Now, I am anything but an expert on Mudéjar architecture, but I once read that the Moors designed the stairways in villages so that they offered a particularly magnificent view. No matter if this statement is true or not – in Mojácar it is definitely the case. Sometimes you just have to face the stairs in both directions 😉 .

No doubt, it is not surprising that Mojácar is considered to be one of the most beautiful white villages in Spain.

The history of Mojácar Pueblo:

Discover the origin of our white village

The name Mojácar derives from “Monxacar” and stands for “Holy Mountain”. The city has a thousand-year history that began in prehistoric times and has since absorbed many other peoples and cultures such as the Phoenicians, Celts, Greeks and Romans before the era of the Moorish Kingdom. Later, the Spanish reconquered large parts and Mojácar plays a remarkable role during this Spanish Reconquista in Andalusia.

Although almost all the villages in the region surrendered to the Catholic royal couple (Ferdinand and Isabella) in 1488, Alavez, the Moorish ruler of Mojácar, refused to hand over the town and its inhabitants to the Spanish.

When asked why he did not show up at a surrender meeting at the Fuente Mora, the village’s Moorish well, he reportedly replied that he was as Spanish as the Catholic royal couple, but that he would never want to go to war against the Christians. He then added the wish that the people of Mojácar be treated as brothers and not enemies, and that they wished to continue cultivating the land and controlling their city, in a peaceful alliance with Spain, of course. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel accepted Alavez’s diplomatic proposal, thus preserving the prosperity of Mojácar and its inhabitants.

Even today, this history is duly celebrated during the Fiesta de los Moros y Cristianos. However, Mojácar’s greatest heyday was yet to come. Silver was discovered in Mojácar in the early 19th century and heralded an economic boom.

Unfortunately, dark times soon came to the town. The mines were closed at the beginning of the 20th century and the village suffered severely from war, drought and disease. The impact on Mojácar was further exacerbated by the Spanish Civil War and the economic problems that accompanied it.

The population decreased drastically as many inhabitants emigrated to Argentina and the USA. It was not until the 1960s that Mojácar recovered a little after the mayor devised a plan to offer land or houses for free to those who would work to restore the run-down town. Until then, the town was not even supplied with running water. The mayor’s plan sounded like music to artists, journalists and intellectuals who had fallen in love with Mojácar’s beautiful location and rich history.

Thanks to their efforts, Mojácar picked itself up again and in addition to the renovation of the village houses, new residential areas were created on the coast and Mojácar developed into a hippie hotspot. Even today, Mojácar Pueblo manages to preserve parts of its Moorish past, and these influences blend beautifully with modern and contemporary architecture.

This mix of old and new gives the place its distinctive character and gives visitors the opportunity to enjoy a unique atmosphere where past and present combine.

Discover Walt Disney’s birthplace

Did you know that Mojácar Pueblo is believed to be the true birthplace of none other than Walt Disney?

Few people are as well known around the world as Walter Elias Disney. For many of us, hearing this name means dreaming of a whole fantasy world that has accompanied us since childhood. Stories and tales of fairies, princesses, pirates and adventures that sound very distant but that perhaps could have their origin much closer than we think.

In 1901, at the time of the great migratory flows, a baby born of an extramarital affair between the laundress Isabel Zamora and the powerful Gines Carrillo left southern Spain with his mother for Chicago. This baby was named Jose Guirado Zamora and was eventually adopted in America by Elias Disney and his wife.

Unfortunately, there is no proof, although many people in Mojácar are still working on it. There are many indications that the story could be true. Walt Disney took the truth with him to his grave and so we will probably never know it.

To find out more about the story, just type “Walt Disney Mojácar” into Google and you’ll get articles in every language. We were totally gob smacked that the press from pretty much every country had already reported on it …