What's on in Níjar

Níjar is a craft town in the hills above Almería's wild Cabo de Gata coast, long known for its hand-thrown pottery and woven jarapa rugs, with the empty beaches and fishing hamlets of the natural park spread out below. It's a dry, dramatic corner of Spain — desert-edged and film-set familiar — where the village trades and the protected coast matter more than tourism.

The music comes out in summer: the Entre Cántaros flamenco festival, now in its fourth year, stages cante in the old town, while down on the coast at Las Negras the Nudo Sur festival brings a younger, looser open-air sound. Here's what's on while you're here.