Next to the Moncófar promenade, the cool chairs of two neighbors seem to converse with the wind. In the town of Almedíjar, the craft workshops are carried out without losing sight of the peaks of the Espadán mountain range. Stories that whisper along the bed of the San José River, so many blue doors in Peñíscola or the aroma of an orange blossom that also baptizes a discreet coast where we can get lost among tapestries of pine trees, beaches and even distant turtle nests.
The province of Castellón is like the unknown first cousin of Valencia and Alicante, waiting for its moment to unfold a landscape as moving and Mediterranean as it is full of nuances.
The north of the province of Castellón cannot be understood without Morella, that medieval town where life revolves around its brand new castle and is surrounded by a wall up to two kilometers long. What happens within the walls is a dance between eras that speaks of Iberian, Roman, Arab or Christian influences in the form of icons such as its markets and squares – hello, Pla d’Estudi –, the Consell tower and its epic panoramic view, or a gastronomy which here boils between soups from Morella and sweets like flaons, a delicious crescent-shaped pasty.
Another reference to the night star is found in the Papa Luna castle, an iconic construction of Templar echoes so overlooking the sea from the top of Peñíscola that, at some point, it seems as if it is going to fall into the great blue. The other great historical bastion of the province is a town that invites you to get lost in that labyrinth of blue doors and whitewashed streets, look at the sky in search of dragons – Game of Thrones was also filmed here –, or let yourself be carried away by the sound of the sea. through surreal jewels such as the Petxines house, with its shell-lined facades.
From the viewpoints of Peñíscola you can see a summit that seems impenetrable. Oblivious to the whims of tourism, the Sierra de Irta offers those postcards of semi-virgin corners and beaches to reach after a hiking route with light as a compass. Alcalá de Chivert, among other towns, serves as a starting point when it comes to getting lost among natural jewels such as the Torre Badum cliff, heritage in the form of Arab castles and watchtowers, or nature that accompanies you through gorse meadows. and pine carpets.
The sound of a bell shakes the mountains, the voices of past times expand on the rooftops and the memory contained in the rock guides you through stone streets where the Templars expanded part of their legacy. Included in the network of Most Beautiful Towns in Spain, Culla is the closest thing to a mirage. Through an exquisite old town we discover its popular prison, the winding Pla street, the parish church of El Salvador and other rocky gems full of secrets.
Considered the longest navigable underground river in Europe, San José is a natural treasure that murmurs beneath the town of Vall d’Uixó, where relics ranging from the Bronze Age to Arab culture are still preserved. There is nothing better than descending into the caverns formed by the river itself and succumbing to a brief but intense walk between superlative blue waters and walls covered in cave paintings that show the presence of human beings more than 17,000 years ago.
Diving and snorkeling lovers know of a certain archipelago that will delight the modern Jacques Cousteau. Located 49 kilometers away from Oropesa del Mar, the Columbretes Islands were once an oasis for pirates and smugglers until the construction of their lighthouse in the mid-19th century. Today, this paradise born of submerged volcanoes encompasses up to four groups of islands and rocks with orography as capricious as ways to approach legendary seabeds dotted with lush algae and red corals.
Known as Valencian Biarritz, it is much more than sun, beach and music festivals. A walk that takes us back to the times of the belle époque to discover the brand new villas built by the richest families of Castellón in the 19th century. We can see the result through almost 30 villas on the beach that we can surround through two itineraries: the route of Hell, in reference to the parties celebrated in the villas; and the Celestial Court, between quiet streets, historic gardens and palaces worthy of a Mediterranean tale.
The capital of the province is located on the Azahar coast and from its historic heart spring attractions such as its Plaza Mayor, surrounded by such emblematic buildings as the Santa María la Mayo co-cathedral, the Central market, the Town Hall or the Fadrí tower, with its 60 meters high and a viewpoint at the top that can be accessed through a spiral staircase of up to 200 steps. Don’t miss a walk through the Llotja del Cànem, a building built in the 18th century, the charm of Ribalta Park, or the charming fishing neighborhood of El Grao.
There is a secret dotted line between the Alto Mijares region and Thailand in the form of a pristine blue that unfolds between karst rocks and a nature of Mediterranean exuberance. It is the promise of the Baños fountain, a set of thermal pools coming from the Mijares River less than five kilometers from the town of Montanejos, from which an ideal hiking route begins to reconnect with the summer we dream of. A curious data? The temperature of 25ºC of these waters is maintained throughout the year.
This town of only 300 inhabitants is today one of the great beacons of urban art in the entire Levant thanks to the MIAU (Unfinished Museum of Urban Art). A neighborhood proposal born in 2014 with the intention of promoting coexistence in the form of a festival that bubbles with performances, new murals and a delicious artistic atmosphere every summer. For the first time, this year it is unknown whether the event will take place due to ideological issues that have mobilized the world of culture against the censorship imposed by the City Council.
