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From a reader:

Hi David! Love your site and all your reviews/gossip etc! We are coming back to Cortijo Grande in a couple of weeks and you seem to know everything about the area/where to eat etc so I was hoping you could answer a couple of questions for me?
I heard a rumour that Los Limoneros had closed down? Is that true? Is Finca Listonero re-opened for the evenings yet? Is it still a restaurant and what is it like…have you been yet?

Finally….is there anywhere in Turre you would recommend to eat as I know a lot of places have closed? Thanks for all your help!

Well, shucks. Here’s the scoop, to the best of my knowledge: Read more…

Just returned from a snowball fight up in the mountains above Cabrera. Lots of lovely snow. Here’ s a few pictures.

All right, we’re not talking about the depths of the Scandinavian winter here, but it’s good fun.

Ironically enough, as somebody has just moodily emailed me to point out, this is the weekend that John Gaunt was paid to come here and tell everyone how lovely and warm Mojácar is in the winter.  Ah, it’ll be lovely tomorrow again. After all, last Saturday I almost got sun burnt out on the terrace.

As I peer out of my window, and as the clouds lift slightly, I can clearly see snow on the Sierra Cabrera!

Doubt it will last for long, but pretty to see – if it gets a little clearer will take some photos.

Just been speaking to Matthew from Finca Listonero, the restaurant that was damaged in the (first) Cabrera fire.

He’s confirmed that he and Carol are reopening the restaurant lunchtimes, after some very hard work on both their parts.

They hope to reopen in the evenings “very soon”.

I’ll have to pop round for lunch, and will report back once I’ve done so.

Cortijo Grande has been reopened, at least the lower half. The upper half and Cabrera are still closed. Roads must still be cleared and not obstructed under any circumstances.

A large plume of smoke shot up 20 mins ago to the far right of Cabrera and helicopters have moved over.

Plumes of smoke are still coming out from the other side of the mountains.

Finca Listonero and some houses nearby are a “bulldozer job” according to an eyewitness, although the whole area there is still sealed off by Guardia officers who are assessing the damage. Not even the townhall is allowed in yet.

It appears that the fire mainly danced over the golf course, due to the amount of greenery there. Fire fighters concentrated their efforts on protecting population centres, but outlying cortijos were on their own.

The fire reached Sopalmo and Carboneras. The latest estimate of the damage from the townhall is between 3,600 to 4,000 square ha burnt, which is a huge amount.

Pat Weston from Arriba Bar has just sent me this:

Just to let you know it seems that the fire is still going but at the back
of Hotel Puerto Marina I think most of the army has gone past – we have
Arriba Bar so are quite high up on the playa and there are bomberos in high
numbers going up there – hope no one gets hurt

Infoca, the forest fire people, say that the probably cause of the fire was a lightening strike from the storms we had yesterday.

While Almeria city and Albox suffered intermittent showers throughout the day, the Levante just had a dry thunderstorm, steady winds and temperatures of up to 40ºC.

I had over 1,046 more visitors in 8 hours yesterday than I normally receive, and have received around 30 emails asking for more information on the fire.

I can’t really get into specifics with individuals over the email, but I’ll keep posting what little I know here.

Currently, the police are still making safe the area and won’t let anyone up. According to Local Police, if all goes well and the fire experts say OK, house owners may be allowed back up this afternoon.

I’ll keep skulking around the area and as soon as they let me up I’ll come back with some more photos and updates.

If you have any decent photos of the fire or aftermath, send them over and I’ll post them.

There was also a small fire in Sorbas, which was extinguished by helicopter, and at around 12:30 last night the La Parata area of Mojacar was evacuated due to another fire. Police refused to say if these fires were started deliberatly.

No idea what´s happened to Cabrera, but the flames seems to be all around it.

These photos are taken from near the Turre road, in front of the Cortijo Grande entrance (near the bridge).

You can see how hard the wind is blowing:

Reports reach me of a family leaving their house as it caught fire, and as they rushed from the fire had a nasty accident. House was in flames, apparantly, although this reached me third hand.

Guardia are refusing to allow anyone up to Cortijo Grande, even the TV who are congregating around the entrance. Dad, who wandered over, got interviewed by Andalucia Directo. A number of cars full of possessions have been fleeing the area.

Due to the smoke, I´ve left Turre and moved further up the valley.

Cabrera and Cortijo Grande have been evacuated and the roads sealed off by Guardia.

The fire now extends from the right of Cabrera down to Mojacar.

A number of (3?) helicopters are ferrying water from a local reservoir.

The light is currently terrible, as a huge pall of smoke has now gone over the house.

And a large bulldozer on a lorry has been taken up into the mountains.