Quemado Beach

Quemado is the beach Al Hoceima is built around - a curve of pale sand and shingle held between two rock headlands, with the town on the slope directly above so that from the water the buildings step up the hillside. The bay is enclosed enough that the water is calm and clear and the shelving is gentle, which makes it usable in a way that much of this rocky coast is not. Peñón de Alhucemas, a small fortified islet a few hundred metres offshore, is visible from the sand; it is Spanish-administered and cannot be visited. The town above is a small provincial centre with white and blue buildings, a legacy of Spanish administration in its street plan and some of its architecture, and a promenade. The wider coast has better and emptier beaches a short drive away, inside Al Hoceima National Park.

What you actually see

• A held bay - sand and shingle between two headlands, calm and clear.
• The town above - buildings stepping up the slope directly behind the beach.
• The offshore islet - a small fortified rock a few hundred metres out, not visitable.
• Spanish traces - street plan and architecture from the town's twentieth-century administration.

When to go

June to September. Half a day. Mornings before the town comes down.

Honest expectations

It is a town beach and busy in summer with limited space. The sand is coarse and partly shingle. Al Hoceima is a long drive from anywhere. Out of season the seafront is quiet and many places close.

Nearby

Al Hoceima National Park is west along the coast; Cala Iris is beyond it.