CASTLES ADRA

Castillo de Adra is a historic fortified complex in Adra, Almería province, with the castle itself built in 1492 and the surrounding hexagonal wall constructed under order of Queen Juana beginning in 1505. The wall, featuring seven towers at its corners and encompassing a parade ground and keep, took several decades to complete and was fortified against the persistent threat of Barbary and Turkish piracy that plagued the Andalusian coast during the 16th and 17th centuries. The town's residents defended these walls through multiple assaults and sackings. The fortress remains in ruins today, though the wall was declared a Bien de Interés Cultural (Cultural Interest Site) and underwent restoration by the Andalusian Regional Culture Ministry in 2008, preserving this important monument to coastal defence.

Torre vigía de Guainos is a cylindrical stone watchtower located between Adra and La Rábita in the Almería province, standing as a prominent example of the Nasrid-Castilian defensive system that once protected the Kingdom of Granada's coastline. Built in masonry arranged in horizontal rows with a distinctive buttress formed as a truncated cone at its base, the tower was positioned to monitor coastal movements and relay defense alerts with other fortifications. Strategically sited off the N-340 Málaga-Almería highway in Guainos Bajos, it maintains visual association with the Alhamilla tower and represents a well-preserved example of early modern Iberian coastal architecture, now recognized as a protected cultural heritage site in the region.