Murcia

Introduction

Murcia, Cathedral

© amanecer

Murcia is the capital of the region with the same name, which is embedded between the Region of Valencia and Andalusia. It is located on the Segura River. It is a city mostly overlooked by visitors to Spain, but it has some nice sights.

Sights and Activities

Cathedral

The Cathedral of Murcia or in full the Cathedral of the Diocese of Cartagena is a mixture of styles but the facade is considered to be a baroque master-piece. The first parts were built between 1394 and 1465 in a Gothic style. The facade was added later between 1736 and 1754. Soon after that the tower was finished.

Events and Festivals

• Santa Semana
• Moros y Cristianos (april)

Weather

Murcia has a hot semi-arid climate. Given its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea, it has mild winters and hot summers. It averages more than 320 days of sun per year[citation needed]. Occasionally, Murcia has heavy rains where the precipitation for the entire year will fall over the course of a few days. In the coldest month, January, the average temperature range is a high of 16.6 °C during the day and a low of 4.7 °C at night. In the warmest month, August, the range goes from 34.2 °C during the day to 20.9 °C at night. Temperatures almost always reach or exceed 40 °C on at least several per year. In fact, Murcia holds close to the highest recorded in southern Europe since reliable meteorological records commenced in 1950. The official record for Murcia stands at a stifling 47.2 °C, at Alcantarilla airport in the western suburbs on July 4, 1994 with 45.7 °C being recorded at a station near the city centre on the same day, being only lower than the 47.4 °C measured in Amareleja, Portugal.

Getting There

By Plane

The airport of Murcia (and Cartagena) is Murcia-San Javier Airport (IATA: MJV / ICAO: LELC) and is located about 25 kilometres south of the city. It has connections with Air Berlin to Palma de Mallorca, Bmibaby to Birmingham and Cardiff, Easyjet to Bristol, London-Gatwick and Newcastle. Iberia (Air Nostrum) offers connections to Barcelona and Madrid, Jetairfly flies to Charleroi in Belgium (Brussels South Charleroi Airport). Norwegian Air Shuttle flies to Bergen, Oslo-Gardermoen, Stavanger and Trondheim, and Ryanair to Birmingham, Bournemouth, Dublin, East Midlands, Glasgow-Prestwick, Leeds/Bradford, Liverpool, London-Luton, London-Stansted. There are also some seasonal flights with the following companies: Jet2.com to Belfast, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Leeds/Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle. and Monarch Airlines has flights to Birmingham, London-Gatwick, and Manchester.

Another option is to fly into Alicante International Airport, about 60 kilometres to the north in the Valencian Community.

By Train

Murcia is connected to the rest of the country by the railnetwork of Renfe. For information check the website of Renfe

By Car

Distances to/from Murcia: Madrid 405 kilometres, Albacete 145 kilometres, Alicante 80 kilometres, Cartagena 50 kilometres.

Sleep

Upscale

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available within Spain. Most airports have wifi-zones and in most towns there are internet cafés or shops where you can use internet for a fixed price. Wi-Fi points in bars and cafeterias are available after ordering, and most hotels offer Wi-Fi connection in common areas for their guests.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The international access code for Spain is +34. The emergency number for police, ambulance and the fire brigade is 112.

In cities you can find plenty of public phones, and 'locutorios'. The latter are small shops where you can use the phone and use internet. Most of them also sell prepaid cards for mobile telephones. These shops are used a lot by foreigners to call to their mother country.

The main mobile network operators in Spain are Yoigo, Vodafone, Movistar and Orange, as in most of Europe voice and data coverage is generally good in urban areas however it can be patchy in rural locations. Cheap mobile phones (less than €50) with some pre-paid minutes are sold at FNAC or any phone operator's shop (Vodafone, Movistar, Orange). Topping-up is then done by buying scratch cards from the small stores, supermarkets, vending points (often found in tobacco shops) or kiosks.

Post

If you want to post a card, you can head to the post office (Correos). The Spanish post is not yet as efficient as colleagues in other countries so receiving a card can take a bit longer than the number of days that it should take. On the website of Correos, you can find the locations of nearby post offices.
Post offices are generally open from 8:30am to 2:00pm, although times will vary according to the size of the city/town and the main post offices might be open until the early evening. Most will also open again on Saturday mornings, but in the smaller towns will close as early as 12 noon. When posting a letter, look for a yellow box and, if possible, post at the post office itself where there will also be divisions for local, national and international mail. Be prepared for long queues at the post office. This is why tobacco shops sell stamps and many will also have the facility to weigh packages. Standard letters/postcards of up to 20 grams sent within Spain are €0.34. However, non-standard letters/postcards of up to 20g are €0.39. Letters/postcards of 20 to 50 grams are €0.45. In the case of international shipping, the price is €0.64 to most countries within Europe for standard envelopes (letters/postcards) up to 20g, for a few European countries and outside Europe it is €0.78. If you want to send a package you are probably better off with a private courier company like TNT, DHL or UPS, as they offer quick and reliable services against competitive prices.

External Links

• Official Tourism Website