Montanejos: Swimming

I was spending a few weeks at the coast in Alcossebre and during that time I took a short day trip to the nearby mountain village of Montanejos. Montanejos is known for it's nearby springs, crystal clear swimming holes, and mineral water. There are numerous spas and although the village is probably only about 500 people, there are a large amount of tourists and tourist attractions.

The most famous attraction is probably the river flowing the town. There is a pedestrian walkway for about a kilometer (1/2 mile) that is littered with people having picnics, swimming, and relaxing. Although there is a larger swimming area at the far point of the river, there are no shortages of uncrowded swimming spots. There is also a fuente (water fountain), which is very typical in Spain, but this one contains unique and healthy minerals. The water contains large amounts of sulfur compounds and has some type of magnetism in the river that creates a weak attraction among the rocks in the bed of the river. If you pick up a rock underwater you can feel it pulling back towards the other rocks. Very weird stuff.

My favorite part was swimming through the gorge in the photo above. The river winds through steep rock walls with warm springs intermittently trickling in, some forming waterfalls down the sides. You can't climb out until you reach the end and it gets quite deep for a ways before it gets shallow.

Apparently this place gets pretty busy in August (the holiday month of Spain) and is a hot spot in the winter for an older crowd. All in all, an excellent visit to a beautiful river!