Genoveses beach is vast and empty, a long stretch of pale sand backed by volcanic cliffs, with not a sunlounger or beach bar in sight. The surf breaks are frothy and turbulent, spurred on by the wind and there is nobody here to watch them but me. I have walked three days to reach this point, so it feels good to rest for a while in the shade of fragrant pine trees.
I’m hiking through Spain’s Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, a rugged but beautiful protected area in Andalucía’s deep south where desert plains and ancient volcanic peaks meet heavenly wild beaches.
It’s a region well known to Spaniards, particularly during the summer months, but virtually unheard of by most British visitors.
In 2024, Spanish visitors accounted for 136,157 overnight stays in the area’s hotels, compared to just 3,624 from the UK, according to Spain’s National Statistics Institute. Many of the 19 million Britons who visited Spain in 2025 headed to the Balearics, the Canary Islands or Barcelona, destinations that are now grappling with the consequences of mass tourism.
The protected landscape is little known among British travellers (Photo: Inntravel)
