Mojácar in 1963

In the course of its nearly 4,000 year-long history Phoenicians, Cartheginians and Romans have left their marks and traces in a place then called "Munsaqar" by the Arabs who lived there until the village was occupied by the Christians in 1488. As legend tells us, there was neither battle nor were there any deaths while "Munsaqar" was conquered, because the Christian captain was so highly impressed by the words of the Arab mayor of the town (I prefer to die a Spaniard than to flee like a coward) that the captain himself went to ask permission of the Catholic King, that the two peoples may live together in peace. This request was granted by Fernando and Isabel. This event is celebrated every year at the 2nd weekend in June with the spectacular "Moors and Christians"- Festival. Nevertheless, it has been the Moors who influenced most the architectural style of Mojácar and continue doing so even today.
In 1987 a law was passed to conserve the Moorish style of the houses and the village for the benefit of the local inhabitants and the visiting tourists. And that is one of the reasons why many of the visitors are under the impression of having arrived on the African continent.

The most impressive image - when getting closer to Mojácar - is that of the white houses clinging tightly to the hill around which they have been built in form of steps and staircases and which belongs to the mountain range of Sierra Cabrera. Having arrived at the top, the viewing platform of the "New Place" (Plaza nueva) offers a stunning view of the surroundings and a nearby table top hill which is often mistaken for a vulcano , but was in fact the original site of "Moxacar", as it was then called. It remained there until 350 BC when a terrible earthquake forced the "Mojaqueros" to move to the other hill which was still intact. From there they are now trying to conserve their cultural roots and the beauty and nature of their mountains and coastline.