Bol Nuevo

This small town is on the other side of Mazarron bay from the campsite, and features fantastic sandstone shapes carved by wind and weather over the centuries. The Tourist Board refers to it as “La Ciudad Encantada”, The Enchanted City, which is over egging it a bit, but attracting visitors is a competitive business.

The town itself is pleasant but unremarkable, and we drive through it until the tarmac road runs out at a car park just the other side. There’s a pretty sea view in the direction of where we intend to walk.

Since visiting last time, some years ago, sturdy wooden handrails have appeared along the sea edge of the gravel road so you can’t now leap out of the way of manic car drivers. Most local improvements of this type, we are told, are funded by Eurogrants.

 Looks like the euro money ran out here, but the sandstone column probably looks more dramatic without the wooden railings.

The dirt road is really a wonder of construction. Long before EC grants existed, a cleft was blasted through this a rock.

The road is never far from the coast, which is all small headlands and bays, like the one in the next photo. Many of the coves are nudist beaches, so wear dark glasses if you don’t want to be put off your lunch.

There are some family beaches- but which is which? At this next one we furtively take a short break before returning to the car park. Luckily, no wobbly bits appear from rocky hiding places.  

This part of the return looks like we’re following a castle wall. It’s the wind-blown sandstone again.

 Although there were no habitations of any sort on the walk, arriving back near the car park we noticed several opulent dwellings. This one continues the castle theme of the previous photo. 

So we complete a very pleasant seaside walk. Bol Nuevo means New Bowl, which begs the question as to what the Old Bowl or Original Bowl was like.