The town of VERA is inland - just a five minute drive away from the apartments, whilst the beach area at VERA PLAYA is a very long stretch of sand, around 6km away.
The town is very pleasant to wander in, and feels like the 'real Spain', with a main street (Calle Mayor) lined with shops and a main square, (Plaza Mayor - pictured below) with the beautiful Church de la Encarnation, built in 1520 (also pictured below). Founded in the 6th century BC by the Carthaginians, this town has passed through the hands of almost all the settlers that came to the peninsular, from the Romans to the Moors and then the Catholic Kings. Shopping here is a delight and you can find many local handicrafts - look out for a "Jarra trampa" or trick pitcher with four fake spouts and five peaks at the top. Every Saturday you will find a large, bustling street market to browse through.
Vera is also justly famed in the region for its varied gastronomy, itself a legacy of all its former settlers: some typical dishes include ajo colorao (red garlic), caldo
colorao (red broth), olla de trigo (pot of wheat) gurullos con conejo
(lumps with rabbit) fritada de emperador (fried swordfish) tortas de
panizo (maize cakes). There are several good restaurants to choose from, but we particularly recommend the Terazza Carmona - pictured here - great tapas at lunchtime and lovely evening meals). 
The seaside resort of Vera Playa covers the beach area between Puerto
Rey and Villaricos, and the Valle del Este Beach Club is located here.
The area has earned a prestigious blue flag
for its 8km of white sandy beaches: Las Marinas, Puerto Laguna, Pueblo
Laguna, Puerto Rey and El Playazo, the latter reserved for nudists. Interestingly, Vera Playa is said to be the place where Hannibal's elephants
landed in Roman times. In the 1980s the area was practically
undeveloped, however, recently this whole area has been undergoing
intensive urban development and now boasts several hotels and many
beach side complexes.
MOJACAR
As with Vera, there are two main areas of Mojacar - the town (pueblo) and the beach (playa). Both have very distinct and different atmospheres.
The pueblo is perched high on a hill, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and is a maze of white-painted houses and steep, winding cobbled streets. It was a centre of trade for the Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans but the Moorish influence dating from the 8th Century, is most visible. The place is a melting pot of cultures, indeed, it is said to have proportionately one of the most international blend of people in Spain. Since the sixties, when the local mayor decided to give land away for free, it has been a haven to people with an interest in the arts and many writers, painters and photographers have made Mojacar their home. Every Wednesday is market day and the streets are home to numerous stalls selling essentials to the locals.There's a tourist information office near the main square (Plaza Nueva).
The symbol of Mojacar is the Indalo Man, the shape of a man holding an arc between his outstretched arms. It is said it brings protection and good luck and is often painted on the front of houses. The symbol is thought to be 4500 years old and is associated with the Neolithic paintings found in the caves of Velez Blanco.
There are a number of historical places of interest in Mojacar:
Each June, for 3 days, there is a
Moors and Christians festival, that celebrates the expulsion of the
Moors from the region. It is a spectacle well worth seeing, there are
re-enactments of key events and the participants dress in elaborate
costumes. Every year the two groups stage mock battles urged on by the
crowd, and true to history the Christians emerge victorious. This takes
place against a background of music and gunpowder explosions.
Now for the Playa - there are 17km of beaches at Mojacar, but only about 7km is developed
in any way, and they consistently earn European Blue Flag awards for
cleanliness. The beach resort has been developed over the past two
decades, and it is now a lively resort with much to offer with beach
bars, local and international restaurants, discos, hotels and shops.
The resort enforces a building restriction to prevent it becoming a
high rise concrete development; residential buildings are restricted to
two storeys and hotels can't be built higher than four floors.
Sorbas
Sorbas is about a forty minute drive from Vera and is worth a visit for its spectacular location, potteries and nearby caves. Its houses cling to the edge of a deep ravine looking down on the Rio de Aguas and from vantage points in the town, you can see the equally amazing desert area, where erosion has created a strange moonscape of flat-topped cones and gorges.You can wander the streets and checkout the white-walled church of Santa Maria with its 16th century nave. Next door is the town hall and a 17th century mansion thought to have belonged to the Duke of Alba. Sorbas is known for its traditional pottery, and an old Moorish oven is used for firing. Ceramics are sold from the workshops in the Barrio de las Alfarerias. In the central square a market is held every Thursday.The caves nearby (Cuevas de Sorbas), pictured here, form one of the largest networks in Europe. Carved by water erosion, with chasms, stalactites and stalagmites, they stretch for several kilometres. There are guided visits in the summer.
