Punta Umbría – what a difference a year makes

It is hard to believe that we have been in Punta Umbría one week already. We arrived midday last Tuesday (after a 368kms drive from Cáceres), in time for a lovely lunch and catch up with our son Adam and his girlfriend Melissa.  Mel then had a much-needed physio session on his shoulder.

We were last in Punta Umbría January/February last year, when we spent quite a few weeks exploring the area.  The weather was quite different then.  We walked along the beach in T-shirts, paddled in the sea and enjoyed temperatures of between 18-24°C.  Now like the rest of Europe, over the last few days we have been experiencing grey and cold days and temperatures of around 12°C.

Sonny, the motorhome has done 1,715 miles (2744kms) over the 9 days we were travelling down through France and Spain, so he is now parked up in a car park enjoying a well-earned rest and in desperate need of a wash!  We have put the scooter in Adam's garage.

Sonny, the motorhome parked up for a few weeks in Punta Umbria

The population of Punta Umbría out of season is just over 14,000 but in summer it increases to around 300,000.  The hotels are overflowing with Spanish holiday makers and Europeans, mostly Germans and Brits.  However, this time of year it is like a ghost town, with a lot of the shops and restaurants closed down. Although, some are able to sustain themselves all year round and even in wet weather put out their pavement cafés.

And like most towns you will always find an Irish Sports Bar.

An Irish Bar in Punta Umbria

Punta Umbría is a piece of land between the Atlantic Ocean and the Ria de Huelva, with lovely wide and clean blue flag beaches.

The town has been inhabited since ancient times by Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, and the town today dates from 19^th century, when the British arrived in Huelva and founded the Rio Tinto mining company and chose Punta Umbria as their beach resort and from there rose the fishing industry.  It sits on the banks of the River Odiel river estuary and is surrounded by extensive salt marshes that make up the El Paraje Natural Marismas del Odie – an important nature reserve in the area.

We even spotted some signs of galleon ship building!

Fisherman bringing in his catch of the day

A seagull illuminated with light, the night of Punta Umbria – poetic words and  statue situated on the promenade by P Gil Mazo

Torre Umbria is the oldest construction in Punta Umbría and stands 14.5m high with a wall 4.5m thick– a defensive tower against the Barbary pirates that plagued the Spanish coast during the 16^th and 17^th centuries but ultimately played a large role in various conflicts maintained by the Spanish Habsburg dynasty.  It was of great importance in monitoring entry of ships in the Ria de Huelva.  If you want to go inside it you have to arrange a visit.  Not sure if there is much inside worth seeing though.

Torre Umbria

Iglesia de Lourdes – the first church to be built in Punta Umbria in 1950.

We have just checked the weather forecast for here tomorrow and it is to be sunny and 19°C - yahoo! So we plan to take a long walk along the beach, paddle our feet and soak up some rays.

Sally x