La Cortijada is in the village of Rodalquilar, right in the heart of the Parque Natural Maritimo-Terrestre de Cabo de Gata-Nijar, situated on the south east of Spain in Almeria region.

With a miner origin, this little village, born at the beginning of the xx cHomeentury, knew a splendorous era which finished about 1966, when the gold exploitations were closed leaving the area almost deserted. White houses, typical of Almerian traditional architecture, cohabit with the rests of those buildings supplied by the government for the mine industry, some of them have been renovated and used in benefit of the Park conservation and maintenance, newly built buildings definitely respectful with the surroundings and the traditional culture.

The village is risen in a wide valley, which originally was a volcanic area, opened from the east to the sea with a beautiful beach (El Playazo), the erosion on the crater walls has place calcareous and sand deposits. This mixture of volcanic ranges, the sea and the wide costal sandy planes, define the unusual landscape of the “Parque del Cabo de Gata”.

The geological evolution of this natural area, almost virgin and now a days officially considered asWorld Heritage, shows its classic volcanic origin with the rests of molten rock, agglomerates, and piroclastic rocks constitute the Cabo de Gata Range. After this volcanic period, the sea invaded the basin developing in an archipelago with coral reefs along the coast line.

 

Beaches

The Park offers 45 km of cliffy coast carefully preserved, where you can find different kinds of beaches. The ones facing southwest are 14k long with almost none interruption, they run from Retamar To El Cabo de Gata , opened and with an easy access they follow the area called Salinas de Cabo de Gata home of thousands of pink flamingos and different kinds of migrate birds.

The beaches facing southeast are more remote and surrounded by cliffs and mountains, they do not have an easy access, some of them are only reachable by boat. Due to the protectionist character of the area, villages inside the park are rare and small, still not spoiled by tourism.

Nature

On the other hand, despite of the climate and the poor soil, the close sea provides enough humidity to encourage a wide variety of flora and fauna, with some native species. With an extensive catalogue of plants, birds and fish, El Cabo de Gata has become a paradise for bird watchers and divers.