Castillo de Guardias Viejas

The Castillo de Guardias Viejas sits on a low headland about 5 kilometres west of Almerimar, a 16th-century fort built to defend the coast against the Barbary pirate raids that terrorized Mediterranean Spain for over two centuries. The castle is modest — a small square tower with a surrounding wall — but the position on the point is excellent, with unobstructed views along the coast in both directions and out to sea where a pirate fleet would have been visible well before it could reach the shore.

The interior has little left to see, but the exterior structure is largely intact and the headland itself is worth the walk. A dirt track runs from the coastal road out to the castle along the low cliffs, passing through the scrub vegetation and salt-tolerant plants typical of this dry stretch of coast. The views back toward Almerimar and east toward Almería are better from here than from anywhere in the resort itself. The castle is particularly good in the late afternoon light, when the angle of the sun sets the pale stone and the sea behind it into satisfying contrast.

things to do sight history
A story
The Castillo de Guardias Viejas was built in the 16th century as part of a chain of coastal watchtowers and small fortresses along the southern Spanish coast, designed to give early warning of raids by Barbary pirates from North Africa. The pirates were not a minor threat — in the 16th and 17th centuries they raided coastal towns across the Mediterranean and Atlantic, taking thousands of Spanish and other European captives into slavery. The watchtower network was Spain's systematic response.