Hotels in Guadalest

Guadalest

Guadalest, officially El Castell de Guadalest, is a tiny inland municipality of about 280 people in the Marina Baja comarca of the province of Alicante. Its historic centre belongs to the Most Beautiful Villages of Spain association and has been a listed historic-artistic site since 1974. The picturesque castle dominates the whole Guadalest valley at 595 metres, ringed by the Xortà, Aitana and Serrella ranges, the last two among the province's highest. The river Guadalest crosses the municipality and fills the reservoir of the same name. The climate is Mediterranean, with cooler winters and milder summers than on the coast. The Castle of San José is an 11th-century Muslim fortress on the highest rock, damaged by the earthquakes of 1644 and 1748 and blown up in 1708. In 1543 Charles I gave the Cardona family the title of Marquises of Guadalest. Tourism now drives the economy, with leather goods and souvenir shops and a remarkable range of small museums, from Casa Orduña to miniatures and historic vehicles. The CV-70 road crosses the valley towards Benimantell and Polop. It suits day-trippers from the coast, walkers and couples who want a night in the mountains.