Cuevas Del Almanzora, Almería, Andalusia, Spain

Property Details
Desert Springs Golf Resort - The apartments at Desert Springs are reminiscent of the old local town of Cuevas del Almanzora. Set in courtyards, around swimming pools, gardens and classical Spanish patios, they have a village feel and sense of place. Their location gives them tremendous views to the golf, the sea and surrounding mountain ranges. Living rooms have sun terraces with single or double aspect. Each property has the use of parking area, gardens, swimming and paddling pools and a private roof solarium. Finishings include natural wood joinery and beams, semi-open kitchens with granite worktops, kitchen appliances, mirrored wardrobes to bedrooms, high quality sanitaryware and fittings throughout.

The townhouses, like the apartments, are designed to have the classic feel of the houses built by local families with their new wealth from the silver mining boom in Villaricos during the 19th century. They have verandas and balconies featuring wood and iron with a wealth of attractive external detail. These 21st century townhouses are often set around courtyards, but some are frontline golf. All living rooms have fireplaces, natural wood joinery and features throughout, high quality fittings, kitchens with granite worktops, appliances, fully fitted mirrored wardrobes in bedrooms, attractively tiled bathrooms and shower rooms and ground floor cloakrooms. Most have a private patio with outstanding community gardens, swimming and paddling pools. Each property has a parking area.

The chalets are based on the traditional country houses of The Almanzora Valley. There was a tremendous growth of these locally in the 19th century to house the enormous increase of agricultural workers, working to feed the new mining communities. Sadly, many of these homes have now disappeared back into rubble and soil from which they were built, but if you look carefully you can see their ruins everywhere in the local landscape. These modern chalets are built to a high specification with large terraces and pergolas in private gardens and situated in clusters sharing beautiful and unique landscaped gardens with swimming pools in semi-closed communities, with all the cost benefits implied. These high quality residences enjoy very peaceful and private settings.

The large 3 and 4 bedroom luxury detached country villas, are ranged along the fairways of the Indiana style golf course of Desert Springs. Their design reflects that of the larger country cortijos and haciendas of the Almanzora and Spanish east coast region built to defend against the heat of summer, but sadly there are few originals left here now and the style has become better known as being Spanish Colonial, as seen in Mexico during the Spanish era, where they performed a similar role of keeping the summer heat at bay. All have a gated front courtyard, a walled garden, private swimming pool and overlook the golf course with spectacular views.

The Country House range includes The Herencia, The Residencia and The Caprichosa. Their position at the top of the hierarchy of homes at Desert Springs is clear from the moment that they are first seen. They are all prestigious and imposing properties and have their own very individual character. They offer an even more generous provision of space and comfort than the Country villas. They have an appearance of age, permanence, solidity, strength and tradition that stems from their fairly massive but simple form and lack of fussy detail, as typified by the largest of the old cortijos of the Almanzora valley, such as the Governor's House at the entrance to Desert Springs itself. They appear simpler and stronger than cortijos in more verdant, less arid, areas of southern Spain, with thicker walls and smaller windows.

Local Area
The Mediterranean Sea washes the coastline of the municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora along a stretch of 14 kilometres and inland for 263 square kilometres. The municipality is also home to Desert Springs Golf Resort, a desert style Arizona golf course, which enjoys world renown. The rough and jagged coastline, interspersed with sandy shallow bays, is ideal for snorkelling and sunbathing. Villaricos is a small fishing village on this coastline, with a harbour and a marina, and an assortment of cosy tapas bars, shops and restaurants.

The town of Cuevas del Almanzora is so named because of the many caves that were once inhabited in the Rio Almanzora valley, and in fact, some are inhabited to this day. Today Cuevas is a thriving market and farming town with a booming economy and rapid economic growth. Reknowned in Andalusia for it's Semana Santa, Easter, celebrations the old town of Cuevas has a certain charm. There are museums with artefacts dating from Neolithic times and the church is magnificent.

The present site of Cuevas was chosen by different cultures and civilizations that have written Mediterranean history: Greeks, Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Iberians, Romans, Goths, Arabs and Christians, many of whom have crossed swords for its dominion and control. This area has been densely populated since the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods as the excavated sites in Fuente Alamo and Villaricos show. In 1488 Christian troops conquered the town without a struggle, the Arabs were subjugated and forced to espouse the Christian faith until their revolt and subsequent expulsion in 1570. Pirates were involved in the sacking of Cuevas in 1573 and it is still possible to travel through three centuries of art and nineteenth-century architecture by just visiting some of the local historic sites.

Cuevas is also the capital of motorcycling hosting the world Supercross championships and there are many other sporting venues being built as Cuevas also hosted events in the 2006 Mediterranean games.

Thursday is market day here when the streets are alive with vendors and shoppers and the local cafés are thronging with customers sampling the unique and flavoursome tapas. Sundays are market day at Villaricos, definitely not to be missed. The southern border of the municipality is joined to Vera, a small town approximately 10 km from the coast with superb beaches at it's eastern limit. Market days here are on Saturdays and is arguably one of the best in the area.

About Us
Price Brown is an independently owned estate agents with over 25 years of experience selling property in Mojácar and the local area. Our office was first opened in 1987 and we took pride in the fact that we were the first professionally qualified office to open its doors. We understand that buying a property abroad can be a daunting experience, especially when you do not understand the language, but our experienced and friendly sales team will guide you through the whole buying process and offer an exemplary after sales service. Price Brown's regularly updated property portfolio offers a wide selection of new and resale properties to suit all tastes and budgets.