Outlying districts of Águilas: Hornillo, Los Geráneos, Todosol, Los Collados and Isla del Fraile

Residential and holiday home developments to the east of the town of Águilas

It is known that the Romans made use of the shallow waters around Isla del Fraile and on the beach of Playa Amarailla to the east of the town of Águilas, where they produced the rich “garum” fish sauce using the catches of fishermen in Calabardina and Cope. But after their departure the area around Águilas was only sparsely populated until as late as the 19^th century, when seams of silver, lead and iron was found in the mountains of the Sierra de la Almagrera and the industrial revolution arrived in the south-west of Murcia with a bang.

This was especially the case with the construction of the railway and the loading jetty which still stands in the bay of Hornillo, an area which has now been subsumed into the main urban area of Águilas itself and provides not only a reminder of the town’s industrial past but also an interesting addition to the natural beauty of the landscape.

As Águilas has grown in popularity among national and international tourists over the last few years so the town has expanded along the coastline, and while to the west this has resulted in the growth of the built-up area of Calarreona to the east it has meant the emergence of various residential developments.

The closest of these to the town centre of Águilas is Hornillo, which first came into existence as a result of it being the location of the jetty where minerals were brought by rail and then loaded onto ships. For many years thereafter Hornillo, which lies on the other side of the Rambla de los Quiñoneros, was a rather ramshackle close neighbour of Águilas.

In more recent years, though, that has changed, and now the area is home not only to some spectacular beaches, including Las Delicias and Los Cocedores, but also the auditorium, the Águilas Plaza shopping mall and cinema, the CIMAR marine museum, the inspirational gardens of Rincón de Hornillo and an attractive, modern residential development.

The property at the bottom of the mountainside consists mainly of townhouses and detached chalets, all of them nicely designed and well laid-out, but further up the slope huge efforts were made to chisel out terraces in the mountainside and create spectacular apartment complexes. These provide magnificent panoramic views in a privileged location.

A little further out of Águilas lie the residential areas of Todosol and Los Geráneos, which were among the first to attract the interest of non-Spaniards seeking holiday or retirement properties on the unspoilt coastline of Águilas. Nowadays parts of these developments seem rather dated and haphazard, particularly in Todosol, as little thought was given to urban planning in the early years, and to a certain extent the same is true of Los Collados, which is close to the Playa del Arroz. Los Geráneos is a more recent development, standing on the inland side of the road between Águilas and Calabardina.

However, the rapid learning curve of property developers in Águilas is best exemplified by the incomplete but nonetheless impressive Isla del Fraile resort. This is without a doubt one of the most spectacular along the coastline of the Region of Murcia, as although it is far from being the largest it enjoys one of the most unusual locations of all of the resort-style projects which were built in the first years of this century.

The inland side of the development consists mostly of attractively designed apartments with pleasant green areas and communal swimming pools, although there are also individual villas. But the winding road continues steeply up and over the mountains, where another block of terraced apartments is located on the steep rock face looking out towards the Isla del Fraile and the Mediterranean. The views from this area are fabulous, and at the bottom of the road is Playa Amarilla, a small beach which can only be accessed through the resort and from the sea.