There is – on top of what we told you last week – another reason for making your way up Alicante’s Santa Barbara Castle. Once that challenge is out of the way, you are free to enjoy the other things that the city has to offer: the beauty of its townscape, lush tropical fauna and excellent food.
To help you join these dots, we have devised three short walks that you can combine easily into a single, magnificent day out.
The Cute …
When people in Alicante suggest you visit the “Old Town”, they usually do not refer to the small historic centre of clerical and political life around the Plaza de San Cristobal in the town centre but to the Barrio Santa Cruz.
This picturesque residential quarter on the southern slope of Mount Benacantil – built in the shadow of the Castillo – is also the core around which the modern city developed: the first homes were built here in the Middle Ages when the area was under Muslim rule, and although the streets still seem to breathe an air of “Moorish” mystery, the oldest buildings you can see today are from the 1700s.
The streets of the quarter have been spruced up quite considerably since then, much of it, one suspects, by people who have come here recently from other countries. That would explain why, in between places like Casa Hernandez and Casa Miguels – many homes proudly display the surnames of the people who occupy them above their front doors –, you can spot quite a few house signs that bring to mind faraway cold lands and far gloomier skies.
Whether the most famous building in the Barrio, the House With The Blue Pots, is also in foreign hands is difficult to tell, but it certainly is very much in the “foreign eye” and under constant siege by groups of Instagrammers.
The house introduces itself in several European languages and appears to be as popular with visitors as the near-by beach resort of Benidorm.
The central spine of the Barrio Santa Cruz is the Calle San Rafael. We suggest you start your exploration there, turning left and right wherever fancy takes you.
Once you have zigzagged your way up to the La Ereta park, turn around and pick a different route for your descent back into town.
You will find that there is much to discover in the Barrio’s side streets: the motives on view may become familiar after a while – blue pots, plants, door carvings – but every house finds new ways of arranging them into an ever changing kaleidoscope of ornamental patterns.
You can easily spend a couple of hours here without once getting bored.
the Beaut …
Alicante is closer (as the crow flies) to Algiers, the capital of Algeria, than to either Madrid or Barcelona, and the nearest point on the North African coast is only 250 kilometres away. This is less far than it is from London to Manchester or from New York to Boston.
Alicante, in other words, stands with one leg in Western Europe and with the other in the tropics, and the place in town where you feel this duality most immediately is the Placa Gabriel Mirò.
This small square in downtown Alicante is full of lush and luxuriant fauna, …
… but this fauna is domesticated, tastefully presented and embedded in urban architecture.
Take the time to rest and contemplate for a while on one of the benches. Placa Mirò is a small square and meant to sit in, not to explore by wandering around.
If you fancy a walk in the neighbourhood, we suggest you go one block further and take a stroll down the Explanada beach promenade.
And from there, you can go further still: the strip, lined with fancy cafés and restaurants, is just a pebble’s throw away from Alicante’s most popular beach and shiny new marina.
…and the Yummy in Alicante
Many Spanish cities do not have street markets: people do their grocery shopping in indoor Mercados, which often rival the local Cathedral as the most opulent and ostentatious building in town.
Even by these standards, however, Alicante’s Mercat Central is a sight to behold.
Mrs. Easy Hiker initially mistook the building for the town’s theater – and then, her error having been pointed out to her, did it again, just a few minutes later. We laughed, but after further consideration, I believe that the error actually holds a deeper wisdom.
Food in the Latin culture, after all, is never just about the eating. In both its consumption and its acquisition, performance is part of the enjoyment.
Indoor markets in Latin countries are great places for buying food, while many also feature small restaurants and bars where you can have a bite.
Often, however, you can do better still by searching out the neighbouring side streets. This is, famously, true for Paris – where some of the best “traditional” restaurants can be found near the old indoor market of Les Halles – as it is for Alicante.
Most popular among shoppers and market folk alike is Damasol on 21 Capitan Segarra. Go here for a lunch (the places closes at 6 pm) in the Spanish style: tapas or boccadillos (small sandwiches) served with a glass of wine or a beer right at the bar.
For a light evening snack, we recommend La Rotonda, located on the square just behind the Mercado.
If you want to experience tapas as fine art, however, you should venture out a little further to Nou Manolin in the “New Town” at the corner of Villegas and Quevedo.
Nou Manolin offers you two different experiences: downstairs, it feels as if there is a party going on – it’s standing room only, and the place is so packed in the evenings that you will have to wait your turn for a place at the bar or one of the small tables. Upstairs, you will find a proper and rather fancy sit-down restaurant: they serve the same food, but in a temperature of conviviality which is lower by several degrees.
Alicante is a delightful place with many faces. It makes for a charming weekend trip, but can also be worked into a slightly longer exploration of Spain’s southwest.
If you want to find out what else there is to visit in the region, we will be delighted if you come back to us next week.
