Vivir en España

About Murcia

Murcia – Where the sun lives…

Murcia (pronounce: Mour-see-ya) is one of two autonomic Spanish states that consists of only one province. This sunny area lies between Alicante (part of the state of Valencia) towards the north, Albacete (part of the state of Castilla – La Mancha) towards the east and Almeria (part of the state of Andalusia) towards the south-east.

Murcia is situated exactly in the middle of the Spanish Mediterranean ‘Costas’ and its coast is called ‘Costa Calida’ or ‘Warm Coast.

Murcia is generally known for its healthy climate and the traditionally well known vast fruit- and vegetable production. That’s why it is sometimes referred to as ‘Europe’s orchard’.

Gastronomically it’s defined by it’s many traditional dishes with lots of vegetables or with fruit and vegetables as sole ingredients.

The climate has been pronounced one of the healthiest in the world by the WHO (World Health Organisation) and with over 300 sunny days per year (> 3000 sunours/year) and low air humidity it’s easy to understand why.

The average year temperature in Murcia on a whole is a comfortable 18˚ Celsius / 65˚ Fahrenheit and at the coast even a little higher. (In January on average 12˚C / 54˚F, in July on average 28˚C / 82˚F)

The coastline is 250 km / 155 miles long and the unique thing about Murcia is that it borders on two seas; the Mediterranean and Europe’s largest in-land sea, the Mar Menor (Minor- or Little Sea).

This sea is formed by a long and narrow stretch of land called ‘La Manga’ (the Sleeve) that separates the 170 km2 / 105 miles2 of water from the Mediterranean Ocean.
Murcia is a paradise for water sport enthusiasts, whether they’d be on the water or in it.

But Murcia has a lot more to offer that sun, sea and beach. It has some of the most beautiful ancient cities. Cartagena is after Cádiz the oldest city in Spain and is famous for its Roman and Carthaginian historic sites.

Murcia’s capital Murcia, with 500.000 inhabitants, is Spain’s 6^th city. It is an authentic and beautiful city with a historic town centre that’s an absolute must see and which is closed off for traffic. Tasty food, lovely bars with terraces and beautiful buildings like the cathedral and Spain’s finest public building: the Casino de Murcia.

The narrow, shady streets are filled with luxury boutiques, interchanged with many cozy squares.
For modern shopping at Ikea, H&M, Zara etc., mixed with a variety of boutiques, lot’s of bars and restaurants, home deco stores and large supermarkets you visit the malls in the suburbs, which coincidentally have excellent and frequent transport links with each other and the centre of town. A true shopaholic’s paradise.

The state of Murcia’s cultural life has a high standard too. It boasts theatres, music halls where famous orquestras play, the famous San Javier Jazz Festival, the second largest flameco festival of La Unión etc. Apart from all this they also have the traditional Spanish and local ‘fiestas’. There are plenty of fiestas each year and they’re a wonderful experience. For example, in Murcia the week after Easter they have ‘la Semana de la Primavera’ (Springweek) with the ‘Banda de la Huerta’ fiesta, at which the whole population dresses up in traditional costumes and the whole town is one big bar with music and dancing.

At the closing day they hold an unmissable event with a long parade until the early hours of the morning which closes with the burning of the sardine and some very large fireworks.
But also the ‘Moros y Christianos’ (Moors and Christians) fiesta in Cartagena, the wine and horses fiesta in Caravaca de la Cruz are more than worthy of a visit. And when Carnaval comes to pass, Aguilas is, together with Tenerife, the best place to celebrate it, Spanish style.

Murcia has some of the finest mountain ranges and beautiful landscapes in the countryside that the Segura river has a large hand in. It waters the rice patties of Calasparra and eroded out the Valle de Ricote (Ricote Valley), where time seems to have stopped.

The Segura river supplies the province, as well as parts of Almería and Alicante and provides sport fisherman and rafters with quite a challenge.

Murcia knows 4 wineareas, of which Jumilla is the best known and Bullas is the oldest in the whole of Spain with an official ‘denominación’ (denomination of origen).
Visitors can have excellent wine-tasting experiences and enjoy local ‘tapas’ in vast, flowing landscapes, interchanged with mountainous areas and valleys.

Murcia, like a lot of places in Spain, has various natural springs. These spa’s were first popular in Roman times. Wealthy Romans used to move down to Murcia for their retirement. Of these spa’s Fortuna and Archena are the most beautiful but certainly not the only ones worth considering.

In conclusion, Murcia is fast becoming one of the provinces with the most beautiful and challenging golf courses. It’s very much competing with the Costa del Sol with regard to numbers of top golf courses and this number is still growing.

All things considered it is a wonderful place to be, albeit for a short period of time, or permanent.