Mojacar, Andalucia, Spain.
Mojacar is located in the Spanish region of Almeria on the Costa de Almeria. This beautiful Moorish town looks from a distance as if it might have been created from a snowfall of sugar lumps. It has a distinctly fairytale quality with its clusters of ancient whitewashed buildings clinging to the sides of the hilltop. Sandwiched between the mountains of the Sierra Cabrera and the crystal clear waters of the Mediterranean, Mojacar is the largest and most popular tourist centre of this south eastern corner of Spain. The Arabs named this place "Munsaqar" and defended it against the Christian armies for hundreds of years until
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabel reclaimed it in the late15th century. But the legacy of the Arab invaders remains in the old Moorish fortress and the Mudejar architecture which makes the foreign visitor feel he’s arrived on the African continent. Under a law passed in 1987, the Arab architecture here will be preserved for posterity (and the delight of international visitors).
For visitors, the old town is a delightful labyrinth of winding, cobbled streets with magnificent views to the mountains, sea and desert hinterland.
Mojacar Beach enforces a building restriction of two storeys which has ensured the charm of the area and a steady growth of international investors giving Mojacar a cosmopolitan atmosphere. The beach is 17 kilometres long, a large part of which is a designated area of natural beauty. Only seven kilometres is developed and is so unspoiled that within this stretch there are no less
than three Blue European Flag Awards on the beaches for cleanliness. Mojacar is a unique blend of mountains and valley areas sheltering the beach and the sea, with every modern convenience to be found here, including a sports facility, sailing, fishing and golf, just to mention a few.
One of Mojacar’s greatest claims to fame is the hotly disputed assertion that Walt Disney was born here. The story goes that he was the illegitimate son of a beautiful local washerwoman who fled to America to escape the disgrace and to seek her fortune. Unable to provide for him, she gave him up for adoption to Flora and Elias Disney of Chicago. The tale can neither be proved nor disproved as his birth registration record has never been found - either in Chicago or in Mojacar (where all records were destroyed during the Spanish Civil War).
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