Good place to make paellas



We are entering Moncofar. It is one of those places that has and inland existence, a coastal existence, and today they are joining together. The evidence is vague so a lot of statements of its history are of the ‘well this happened in this region so count us in.’  A wall was erected in the 1330s to defend against bandits and piracy.  




In 1423 things changed.  Bernardo de Centelles and his son Francisco Gilabert de Centelles arrived by ship, from Marseilles, bearing an image of Mary Magalena. Things got miraculous, a hermitage was formed and the saint is celebrated on 23rd July - when the image is taken on a walk to the sea. The economy was transformed when orange cultivation began in the region.  


The beach has witnessed several tragedies.  5600 Moriscos were exiled from it. After the Civil War the Fasc set up a concentration camp, which  held about 3500 people.  A mass grave exists but is yet to be excavated.  



The Twentieth century saw a gentle rise from 1800 to 3200, which stayed stable from 1950 to 1990.  The development of the seaside away from the big costas reached Moncofar in the late 1990s and today the population is 8000, rising to 30,000 peak season.



We are walking along the front. It is similar to a thousand other places. It has palm trees, street lights, and an almost repeat function as we go on and on.  The Idem restaurant is not, however, like everywhere else - it is gluten free!  It is also LGBTQ+ friendly and gets 4.7 stars. https://restauranteidem.es/  A week ago Isabel said ‘The food was incredible, each dish better than the last. Save room for dessert because it's worth it.’  Roz opined ‘The food here is good, creative dishes which were presented well. The menu is limited but that was fine. Our only criticism was that the main course wasn't very warm, I think that the flavours would have been better if it were hotter. The cheesecake for dessert was excellent!



Time for a swim.  Margarita reckons ‘Clean water, beach of stones, free toilets and showers, rescue team. Beach chairs and umbrellas are not available on the beach, just at one beach bar.’



The road runs out and we turn inland.  Suddenly we are in the fields and the semi-complete garden plots.  We will pass a barbeque area - well, a paelleros   Ruben says of it ‘Good place to make paellas with the family, everything very well taken care of, thanks to the town hall staff and especially the workers at the gardening workshop school, a 10.’



So we push on to the end of the day.
















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