Wild Cabo de Gata

Skirting the coastline east of Almería I spot leggy pink flamingoes stalking through lagoons, then a church tower jutting high above tiny whitewashed houses and gleaming mountains of salt. This is Las Salinas del Cabo, producer of the gourmet flor de sal, crystallized salt flowers, and last stop on the road before the lighthouse. In the background loom the somber, volcanic hills of the Cabo de Gata Natural Park, a haunting area of wild beaches, cliffs, cacti, Moorish fortifications, a derelict gold mine, and modest fishing villages. I have explored it many a time from north of the cape, but never from this surreal southern side, and at last discover that the name Cabo de Gata derives from Phoenician Arabic for cornelians and agates, Cabpta-Gata. In fact the whole area is threaded with rich mineral veins discovered millennia later by French and British mining companies; I remember picking up scattered garnets on a walk years ago.