The city, 10Km. futher east on the coast way, is infinitely preferable to Almuñecar. A white hilltop town gathered beneath the shell of a Moorish fortress and surrounded by sugar-cane fields, its set back 2km. from the sea and is thus comparatively little developed. Its beach - a black sandy strip, only partially flanked by hotels and seafront chiringuitos - is a far more relaxed affair than that at Almuñecar.

Just before Motril, the N-323 heads North to Granada, a great rout, skirting the Sierra Nevada. The coast road continues towards Almería through an unremarkable sprawl of resort of which the most worthwhile is Castell de Ferro. It's quite sheltered, still preserving remnants of its former existence as a small fishing town, with good, wide beaches to the east and west. Avoid the small town beach which is dirty and uninspiring.