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Águilas’s lighthouse stands guard at the southern end of the bay, near the town’s pretty fishing port. Painted in black and white stripes, it looks like something out of a storybook. To complete the picture, above it looms the dramatic castle.

Alicante’s Modernista-style market has all kinds of delicious fresh produce, and pretty flower stalls.

Alicante’s main wine-producing regions are around Monóvar and El Pinós (see Wine Towns), which make robust reds and a famous sweet dessert wine called El Fondillón. Teulada also produces good sweet dessert wines called mistelas .

An art market is held every evening during summer in the Plaza Iglesia at the top of the old village.

A big market is held every Wednesday in Benidorm, with lots of fresh food, as well as clothes and souvenirs.

For the gastronomically adventurous – lambs’ heads roasted in the oven with tomatoes, garlic and wine.

A straggling dirt track leads to the lighthouse at the tip of this wild and beautiful headland, gazing out over crashing waves, long fingers of rock, and tiny, hidden bays.

Kid cooked with a piquant, garlicky sauce – popular in the northern sierras of Murcia.

This rich, liquid stew, usually made with broth, rice and seafood, exists in many regional variations. One of the best known is the caldero tabarquino , a speciality of theIsla Tabarca. Inland variations will often incorporate locally raised meat and game, or add some highly flavoured cured sausage.