Níjar

About Níjar

Níjar climbs the foot of the Sierra Alhamilla at 356 metres, facing the Campo de Níjar plain and the hills of Cabo de Gata. A modest farming settlement in al-Andalus, it passed to Castile in 1488–89, and corsair raids kept the district thinly settled until the 18th century. A member of Los Pueblos más Bonitos de España since 2019, the village has about 2,300 people.

The Plaza de la Glorieta holds the town hall and the 16th-century church of Santa María de la Anunciación, with a defensive tower and a Mudéjar coffered ceiling. The covered passage of El Portillo, an old town gate, leads up to the Atalaya watchtower, restored in 2016. Below, the Plaza del Mercado has elms, the Cañillo fountain and the Museo del Agua, and potters work near Calle Las Eras.

Níjar is 38 km (35 minutes) from Almería by the A-7. Park on Avenida Federico García Lorca at the entrance, as the centre is steep and narrow. Allow two to three hours. The squares are fairly level, but the Atalaya path is steep and unsuitable for wheelchairs. It suits craft shoppers, photographers and Cabo de Gata visitors wanting an inland half-day.

Spring and autumn are best; summer afternoons are fierce and shops close at midday. The Los Chisperos bonfires burn on 16 January and San Sebastián follows on the 20th. Buy hand-painted pottery and jarapas, rugs woven from cloth strips, and try gurullos or migas. Ask at the Museo del Agua which workshops are open.

Níjar in pictures

What you’ll find

• ChurchChurch visitFree
• FestivalAnnual festivalFree
• Historic centreOld town walkFree
• Local craftsCraft shoppingBuy
• Local foodLocal cuisineBuy
• Moorish quarterMoorish heritage walkFree
• MuseumMuseum entryTicket
• Tourist officeVisitor informationFree
• ViewpointSightseeingFree

Nearby places to visit

In the village, the Memory of Water Museum on the Plaza del Mercado explains how water was found, stored and shared in this dry corner of Spain, and doubles as the tourist office. The Cabo de Gata coast is close: Playazo de Rodalquilar (21 km) lies below the old gold-mining village of Rodalquilar, and Playa de los Genoveses (26 km) near San José is a long, undeveloped sandy bay. Inland, Lucainena de las Torres (8 km) is a tidy white mining village, and Sorbas (16 km) has houses on the edge of a gorge. Higher up the Sierra Alhamilla, the hamlet of Huebro keeps a Mudéjar church and old watermills.