Along Spain’s Southeastern Coast: The Charming Alicante and Cartagena
Between Barcelona and Malaga lie the coastal regions of Costa Blanca and Costa Cálida of southeastern Spain. Their beautiful beaches and weather are popular with the European tourists but relatively unknown to Americans. Last fall I got a chance to visit Alicante and Cartagena, two ancient and charming cities in those regions whose histories date back to over two millennia ago.
It was an absolutely gorgeous autumn day as I stepped into my red, Volvo XC40 SUV. I was about to drive in Europe for the first time, and I felt excited and anxious at the same time. After asking the nice lady at Alamo rental car to set the car screen menu to English, I put my destination into Google map and slowly exited the small parking lot besides the main train station in Alicante. I joined the local traffic heading south along Avenida Oscar Espla, a road lined with small offices and stores. Ten minutes later, after a couple of turns, I was on Highway A7 towards Murcia. “That wasn’t bad,” I thought. The traffic was light, the sky blue and wide, and the Spanish countryside green and peaceful. I was exhilarated.
Alicante
I arrived in Madrid the day before, on a cold and rainy Sunday morning, for a one-week business trip. I was invited by EMITE, a Spanish high-tech company in the Murcia region, to attend their product training and the inauguration of their brand-new office. Following their recommendation, I took a 2.5-hour ride on AVE (Spanish high-speed train) from Madrid Atocha station to Alicante. When I walked out of the train station in Alicante, it was early evening and already dark. Luckily, Hotel La City Estación was only a 2-minute walk from there.
After taking a nice shower, I asked the friendly girl at the front desk for a dinner recommendation. “A lot of restaurants are closed already,” she said, “but here are a couple of good ones that are still open and within walking distance.” I chose to go to El Colmado, an easy 10-minute stroll along Av. de la Estacion and Av. Alfonso El Sabio. In between the two Avenidas stood Plaza de Los Luceros, an elegant round plaza with lighted fountains surrounding a tall, sculpted monument.
It was about 7:30 PM when I got to El Colmado. The restaurant featured “traditional and contemporary cuisine” in a cozy and inviting ambience. But this being Sunday night, it was rather quiet. There was a local family at one table and four English folks at another. I decided to try pluma Iberica (the end cut of the loin from the native, black Iberian pig) with truffle potatoes and sautéed cherry. It was simply delicious. With the total bill of just under 17 Euros (including a bottle of agua mineral and a glass of local beer), I left a happy man and was ready for a long slumber.
I woke up to a beautiful morning. After a simple-but-satisfying breakfast at the hotel, I made my way to Castle of Santa Barbara. I walked along the previous path but continued past El Colmado. Alicante has been known for its radiant sky since the ancient times, and that morning was no exception. The Romans, who ruled the city for 700 years (from 200 BC to 500 AD), called it Lucentum, or City of Light. And under the radiant morning light, I could now appreciate more the palm trees that lined both sides of the avenue.
TRAVEL TIPS: Hotel La City Estación is a small hotel; its narrow building tucked between other businesses in a nine-story building. It wasn’t fancy, but it was clean, tidy, and comfortable. Its location, near the train station and across the street from the rental car place, was very convenient. And at 53 Euros per night (including breakfast buffet and taxes), it was a bargain for me.
Just two short blocks east of El Colmado is Mercado Central, an imposing building that looked like a grand train station. Designed and built in 1921, this Central Market houses almost 300 stalls selling colorful local produce, meat, fish, bread, pastries, and other foods. Almost all stalls are owned by families from Alicante and the surrounding areas and have passed down through the generations. Unfortunately, I didn’t have much time that morning, so I had to skip it.
A short walk later, I reached the western edge of La Ereta, the park around the Castle of Santa Barbara. I turned right to Calle Teniente Daoiz, found what seemed to be an ascending path towards the castle, and took it on a whim. Soon I was rewarded with magnificent vista in all directions.
The origin of Castillo de Santa Barbara dated back to the 9th century when the Moors (Muslims from North Africa) ruled most the Iberian Peninsula. The castle was then captured by the Castilian forces on December 4, 1248 (the feast day of St. Barbara). The kingdom of Aragon, who seized the castle in 1296, later extended its construction, making it one of the largest medieval fortresses.
The castle is considered as the crown jewel of Alicante, and rightly so, for it sits on top of Mount Benacantil which, at 544 feet (166 m), towers above Alicante. From my walking path, I could see almost the whole city of Alicante with its harbor resting peacefully next to the azure Mediterranean Sea. Amidst the brown tiled rooftops, the blue dome of Concathedral of St. Nicolas de Bari figured prominently. That old church, along with Basilica Santa Maria, are among the must-see places in Alicante, and I made a mental note to visit them next time.
Further up, I saw Sierra del Maigmo mountain rose mightily north the city. Soon the walk path made a sharp right turn, and I decided to stop there due to the time constraint. I never made it to Santa Barbara Castle, but I was happy. As I trekked down, I couldn’t stop taking pictures.
TRAVEL TIPS: When you reserve a rental car in Spain, check the opening hours of the rental car office. Initially, I planned to pick up the car at Alicante train station on Sunday evening and drive to Cartagena right away. The Alamo website stated that the rental car office closed at 2 PM on Sunday, but I could get an “out of hours service” — which, after checking directly with the local office, turned out wasn’t true. Hence, I had to stay overnight in Alicante and picked up the car on Monday. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as it allowed me to see Alicante.
Cartagena
After driving for about 1.5 hours, I reached the city of Cartagena at 3 PM. Unlike Madrid and Barcelona, the city felt gentle and laid-back, and I liked it right away. I drove the length of Paseo Alfonso XII along the marina, turned right at the end, then a short left. There, I had arrived at Hotel NH Cartagena — except that I didn’t see it. After a bit of head-scratching, I found that the hotel was behind me through a cobblestone alley that was open only for the hotel traffic.
After checking in, I asked the receptionist where I could park. The girl explained that the parking garage was under the hotel, and I needed to use a car elevator to reach that underground space. “Put your car in front of the lift,” she said in colloquial English, “and ring the bell. I open the door; you introduce the car.” So, I did.
As the elevator door opened, I realized that I was in for a huge challenge. The width of the elevator was literally just four inches (10 cm) larger than my SUV. Somehow, I managed to put my car in and reached out to press the P3 button. My relief was short-lived, though, as the parking garage itself was very narrow, and it was dotted with concrete pillars at unfortunate locations. To make matters worse, unlike my car in the US, this rental car didn’t have a backup camera (only backup alarm). Neither did it automatically move forward when I took my foot off the brake pedal (I guess this is a European thing). So, to navigate the impossibly small space, my foot had to keep switching between the gas and the brake pedals. Needless to say, it took me forever to park my car. When I finally left the parking garage for good on the following Friday, I was so relieved. I considered it a miracle that my car escaped that parking garage without a scratch.
What the hotel lacked in parking, it made up abundantly in location. Hotel NH Cartagena sits right across from the triangular City Hall building, and when I opened my second-floor room window, I was regaled by its ornate, white-marbled façade. Down below to my left, a group of students sat on the ground while doing sketches of the building; their joyful banter echoed through the alley. The whole scenery swept away whatever parking irritation still lingered in my mind.
Just beyond the students, the alley opened up to Plaza del Ayuntamiento, one of Cartagena’s main squares. At one of its corners starts Calle Mayor, the charming, pedestrian-only main street. Looking to the right from my window, I saw another beautiful building that housed the Port of Authority of Cartagena. Lining in front of it were stately palm trees, and past their leafy tops, the blue water of the Mediterranean Sea beckoned. So, I left my room and strolled to the oceanfront.
During the busier tourist season, I could have easily spotted cruise ships moored at Cartagena harbor. I could have also taken a boat tour across Cartagena Bay, stopping at Fuerte de Navidad, an 18 th-century fortress guarding the mouth of the bay. But in that lovely November afternoon, the oceanfront was still. I sat on one of the benches and took in the view. The sun was setting, and its golden light illumined the Monument to the Heroes of Santiago de Cuba and Cavite behind me. Probably the only monument in the world dedicated to war defeats, it commemorated the Spanish sailors who lost their lives in the naval battles against the US in Cuba and the Philippines in 1898.
In the next four days, I took any free time I had outside the business activity to explore the city, mostly by walking. Built by the Carthaginians (people from an empire in Carthage, North Africa) around 228 BC, Cartagena is one of the oldest cities in Spain. As such, there are so many neat things to see just around the city center. One famous attraction is the Roman Theater from the first century BC. It was built by the Romans (obviously), who took over the city in 209 BC.
I visited the Roman Theater by taking a short walk up the hill from the hotel to Cornisa Park. (There is a museum under the theater, but it was closed during the early morning and evening that I had time to go.) From that serene park, I could see the whole Theater, its massive half-moon shape surrounded by the earth-colored rooftops and the ancient hills. Along the way, I passed by the remains of the Old Cathedral of Cartagena, believed to be constructed on the location of the first church built by the Apostle St. James in Spain. Sadly, the cathedral was bombed during the Spanish Civil War.
Calle Major is another delightful place that I enjoyed immensely. This pedestrian street is paved with distinctive blue marble tiles, and just like many calle in downtown Barcelona and Madrid, its sides are lined with tempting shops, restaurants, and tapas bars. In the evenings, Calle Major comes alive with the locals doing their paseo (leisurely walk with friends and families) and shopping. Nobody seemed to be in a hurry, and unlike in Spain’s biggest metropolises, I felt no need to watch over my wallet constantly.
Although Calle Major itself is only 300 meters (0.2 mile) long, the pedestrian street continues north as Calle Puertas de Murcia. And that was where I had a sumptuous dinner with my colleagues on our last night in Cartagena. Two engineers from EMITE, Jose Ypiña and Francisco Benavente, kindly took me and Peter Hoang (a sales manager from Vietnam) to La Tartana. The inviting restaurant, housed in the ground level of a five-story, red ochre modernista building from 1906, served tapas “ala Cartagena.” Jose and Francisco did all the ordering, and they did a fantastic job. Everything was yummy. Even the classic huevos rotos (broken eggs), which is a simple (but popular) combination of fried egg, fried potato, and Iberico ham, was so good.
Another memorable dinner happened the night before, during the reception hosted EMITE. Lorenzo Javier Martinez, EMITE CFO at the time, met us at the hotel, and we walked to A la Brasa Mediterranean Tavern. The restaurant is just a bit farther north of La Tartana, and it sits in the southwest corner of the Maestranza de Artilleria Park, which faces the Historical Military Museum of Cartagena. (It is hard to avoid history in this ancient city.) A la Brasa itself preserves the defense architecture of the old building it is in, and we dined on the second floor of the restaurant, in a charming hall formed by three vaults. I can’t forget the ambiance: it was like a romantic bomb shelter filled with the delicious food and drinks of the region.
After dinner, Lorenzo and a few us went to a tapas bar nearby. Over sips of local beer, we exchanged stories of our lives before walking back to the hotel. It was a memorable night, indeed.
On Friday morning, before heading back to Alicante, I visited the Roman Theater and walked around Plaza del Ayuntamiento one last time. I went to a couple of gift shops, trying to find a memento that would remind me of Cartagena. I settled on a metallic blue replica of Peral submarine. Isaac Peral, a Spanish naval officer from Cartagena, designed the world-first military submarine in 1884 and launched it successfully in 1888. (That submarine is now displayed in the Cartagena Naval Museum.) It is a perfect souvenir of a place whose history has always been closely intertwined with its adjoining sea.
TRAVEL TIPS: While you may not go from the US to Spain just to visit Alicante and Cartagena, if you happen to travel, say, from Barcelona to Andalusia and have a couple of days to spare, those two old cities are worth a stop. There are plenty of nice things to explore, and you get to see the gentler side of Spain, far from the hustle-and-bustle of Madrid and Barcelona.
I hope we all can travel abroad freely again soon, and I wish everybody a safe and memorable travel then!
Originally published at http://rsatrio.com on July 1, 2020.
