Vera is a city and municipality in Almeria province, the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Today Vera is one of the most important commercial centres in the region, with a thriving traditional core and a number of supermarkets and commercial organisations spread along the ring road.
Vera itself lies approximately 10 kilometres inland from the coast, but the municipality extends to the sea shore. There, a tourist settlement, named Vera Playa, has been developed. This now forms the main economic activity of Vera. Since 1990, Vera Playa has developed into an important naturist village.
It’s a popular part of the Costa de Almería of the Mediterranean resorts of Spain.
Tourism and main attractions
- Fortress Church of Our Lady of the Incarnation (1521-1524)
- Main Altarpiece of the Parish Church: it is eminently baroque
- Convent of the Minimal Fathers (1610)
- Chapel of San Agustín (1520)
- Hermitage of Our Patron the Virgen de las Angustias (18th century)
- Hermitage of San Ramón (18th century)
- Hermitage of the Virgen de las Huertas
- Bullring (1879): it is one of the oldest in Spain
- Fountain of the Cuatro Caños (17th century)
- Hill of the Holy Spirit
- Glorieta (19th century)
- Ethnographic and Archaeological Museum
Activities
In addition to the usual tourist infrastructure, the area has a space for practicing naturism. In 2013 the town of Vera managed to break the Guinness record for the highest number of people bathing naked at the same time.
Hiking, caving and bicycle routes. Companies for the practice of diving, scuba diving, windsurfing, motorized flight.
Itineraries through the natural park of Cabo de Gata-Níjar, Sierra de María, Karst in Yesos de Sorbas and Desierto de Tabernas (natural places of special interest).
Beaches
Vera has a privileged coastline on the Costa del Levante Almeriense. Sheltered by hidden coves cut into the Almagrera and Cabrera Sierras, there are the extensive Veratense beaches of fine and golden sand, surrounded by a line of endemic flora.
The municipality has seven kilometers of beach (Puerto Rey, El Playazo, Playas de Vera). Its beaches are characterized by being a great natural reserve of fine, golden sands, where both naturist and textile tourism coexist perfectly. The success of the coexistence of this tourism model is that naturism has been practiced in a very specific area since its inception, the northern section of Playas de Vera. Near the coast there is also the Laguna de Puerto Rey, the mouth of the Antas River, recently declared a nature reserve.
Gastronomy and restaurants
In addition to the local fish, Vera has several typical dishes such as gurullos with rabbit, avío pancakes, red garlic, ball stew, pot of wheat, Mudejar-style pork tenderloin, Vera’s tart, sponge cake of dates, balls or oil cakes.
The citizens of Vera usually consume many of these typical dishes on the Old Woman’s Day, a typical festival of the town that is celebrated in March and which consists of small children beat and throw stones at a doll of an old woman made of paper that contains trinkets inside.
There are two Michelin list restaurants in the city:
Terraza Carmona, Del Mar 1, 26 – 49 EUR • Regional Cuisine
Juan Moreno, Carretera de Ronda 3, 27 – 60 EUR • Traditional Cuisine
How to get to?
From Almeria 1 hr (86.6 km) via A-7
From Seville 4 hr 50 min (478 km) via A-92
From Madrid 5 hr 25 min (550 km) via A-3
Main information
Area: 58 sq. km (municipality)
Coordinates: 37°15′N 1°52′W
Population: 17 000
Languages: Spanish
Currency: Euro
Visa: Schengen
Time: Central European UTC +1
See here best sea and ocean resorts of France and Spain (223 objects)
