Mojácar () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

situated in the southeast of the

Province of Almería Almería (, also ; ) is a province of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It was named after the Arab ruler of Taifa, Banu Al-Miri. It is bordered by the provinces of Granada, Murcia, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital is the homony ...

(

Andalucia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It i ...

) in southern

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, bordering the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. It is 90 km from the capital of the province,

Almería Almería (, , ) is a city and municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, located in Andalusia. It is the capital of the province of Almería, province of the same name. It lies in southeastern Iberian Peninsula, Iberia on the Mediterranean S ...

. It is an elevated mountain village displaying the traditional white colour from its earlier days. There is also a tourist resort to the south of the town, on the coast, called Mojacar Playa.

Demographics

History

Mojácar has been inhabited by many different groups since antiquity. Populated since the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

around 2000 BC, traders such as the

Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...

ns and

Carthaginians The Punic people, usually known as the Carthaginians (and sometimes as Western Phoenicians), were a Semitic people, Semitic people who Phoenician settlement of North Africa, migrated from Phoenicia to the Western Mediterranean during the Iron ...

arrived to serve the growing communities. Under

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

dominion, the settlement was called Murgis-Akra, whence came the Latinized Moxacar, the arab Muxacra, and finally the current name of Mojácar. Murgis-Akra and its lands became incorporated into the

Nasrid The Nasrid dynasty ( ''banū Naṣr'' or ''banū al-Aḥmar''; ) was an Arab dynasty that ruled the Emirate of Granada from 1232 to 1492. It was the last Muslim dynasty in the Iberian Peninsula. Twenty-three sultans ruled Granada from the foun ...

sultanate, and the town found itself on the frontier with the

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

forces to the east. Watchtowers and fortresses were built, or reinforced, during the 14th century. On June 10, 1488, the town was annexed to the

Kingdom of Castile The Kingdom of Castile (; : ) was a polity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. It traces its origins to the 9th-century County of Castile (, ), as an eastern frontier lordship of the Kingdom of León. During the 10th century, the Ca ...

. Mojácar, once again, began to expand until the early 18th century, when the census of the time recorded 10,000 people. Around the middle of the 19th century, Mojácar began another period of decline. Several severe droughts brought about this drop in the town's fortunes, with a consequent emigration to other parts of Spain, Europe or

Hispanic America Hispanic America ( or ), historically known as Spanish America () or Castile (historical region), Castilian America (), is the Spanish-speaking countries and territories of the Americas. In all of these countries, Spanish language, Spanish is th ...

. The depopulation of the town was halted in the 1960s when tourism began to reverse the trend.

Climate

Mojácar has more than 3000 hours of sun per year. Rainfall is seldom and weak, with an average rainfall of 200mm per year. The average yearly temperature is around 20 °C. Winter is normally mild. The average temperature in winter varies between 10 °C and 18 °C. The average temperature in summer varies between 26 °C and 32 °C. Thanks to Mojácar's proximity to the sea, the maximum temperature in summer is considered mild. However, in the inland zones of Almeria during summer, day time temperatures can reach 40 °C; even the low evening temperature is high enough to warrant the use of airconditioning, especially during June, July and August.

Culture

Indalo

The Indalo, or Mojácar man, is a magical totem said to bring protection and good luck. From times past was painted onto the fronts of houses once the whitewash was dry with the belief that it kept away the

evil eye The evil eye is a supernatural belief in a curse brought about by a malevolent glaring, glare, usually inspired by envy. Amulets to Apotropaic, protect against it have been found dating to around 5,000 years ago. It is found in many cultures i ...

and protected those within from storms. The figure might be interpreted as a man holding a rainbow between his outstretched arms. The original totem is thought to be around 4,500 years old, and the earliest known one appears among other prehistoric paintings in a cave in

Vélez-Blanco Vélez-Blanco is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain.- - In 2018, the population was 1,938. Its surface area is with a population density of . Its geographical co-ordinates are 37° 41'N 2° 05 ...

. The name Indalo was coined by a group of artists and intellectuals who settled in Mojácar in the early 1960s, attracted by the atmosphere of the town, and who commercialised the totem which today signifies the whole province of Almería. Due to tourism, the Indalo Man has spread in popularity and has been seen on houses in various parts of Europe such as

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

.Source
INE (Spain)
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In media, in the 1982 film ''

Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero created by American author Robert E. Howard (1906–1936) and who debuted in 1932 and went on to appear in a series of fantasy stories published in ''We ...

'', Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared ritually tattooed with several Indalo representations. In fact, the film was recorded in Almeria province.

Cultural associations

Mojácar is home to the Fundación Valparaíso, an international artists' colony founded by Beatrice and Paul Beckett. The foundation continues to host international artists in a 16th c. farmhouse on a working olive farm.

Cuisine

The traditional dishes still found in Mojácar reflect the rural nature. Amongst its plain cuisine, the most well known dishes are: gurullos, pelotas,

gachas Gachas is an ancestral basic dish of central and southern Spain. It is a gruel whose main ingredients are flour, water, olive oil, garlic, paprika and salt. Origin Gachas is considered an unrefined rural dish, the food of shepherds, farmers an ...

, migas, ajo colorao, and pescado frito.

Festivals

The most important festivals (Spanish: ''fiestas'') in Mojácar are: *

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

, special interest on Thursday and Friday with the processions of Jesús Nazareno, Encuentro and Cristo Yaciente * San Agustín: the

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...

of Mojácar. The fiesta falls on 28 August. *Romería de San Isidro: 15 May *San Juan Hogueras: (

Bonfires of Saint John The Bonfires of Saint John (, ) are a traditional and popular festival celebrated in the city of Alicante, Spain, from 19 to 24 June. The celebration ultimately stems from a tradition of bonfires for Saint John's Eve that can be found in many p ...

) 23–24 June *La Virgen del Rosario: (

Virgin of the Rosary Our Lady of the Rosary (), also known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, is a Marian title. The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, formerly known as Feast of Our Lady of Victory and Feast of the Holy Rosary is celebrated on 7 October in the General ...

) is the ''patrona'' i.e. female patron saint of Mojácar. The fiesta falls on 7 October. *Fiesta de Moros y Cristianos: is the remembrance of the negotiation and peaceful surrender of Mojácar to the Catholic monarchs at the end of the 15th century. It is celebrated on the closest weekend to June 10.

References

External links

Mojácar
– The official system of information for the multiterritorial of Andalucia
Mojacar guideWebsite with information about Mojacar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mojacar Municipalities in the Province of Almería