If you’ve been watching the property market in Almería’s Levante coast, this is the kind of news that quietly changes everything. A major new roundabout is finally being built at one of the most dangerous road junctions in the area — and it’s just one part of a much bigger picture.
Garrucha’s most notorious junction is about to disappear
Ask anyone who drives regularly between Mojácar, Turre and Garrucha and they’ll tell you about the junction on the A-370 near La Simona. It’s the main access point into Garrucha from the inland road, and for decades it has been one of the most accident-prone spots in the entire comarca. Not occasionally dangerous — persistently, repeatedly, seriously dangerous.
Residents have been calling for action for years. Local politicians have promised solutions more times than most people care to count. And yet the junction remained, largely unchanged, a genuine black spot on a road that carries significant daily traffic and becomes truly busy during the summer months.
That’s now about to change — for real this time.
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Value my home →Construction confirmed: works starting before the end of September
Garrucha’s mayor, Álvaro Ramos, made the announcement in an interview on Cadena SER Levante, and the wording was clear: works will begin «before the end of September». That’s not a vague commitment to a future project — it’s a confirmed start date backed by the regional government’s Fomento department, which is funding the entire operation.
The signage boards announcing the works are already installed on site. In Spain, those boards represent a formal public commitment. The administrative process is complete. There is no procedural reason for further delays.
One small hold-up: asbestos
The only thing that has slightly delayed the first diggers arriving on site is the discovery of asbestos-containing material — known locally as uralita — in the works area. This requires a specialist removal process with strict health and safety protocols before any excavation can begin. It’s a minor complication, not a fundamental problem, and once it’s dealt with, the heavy machinery moves in.
The mayor has confirmed the expectation is still days or weeks at most before work is visibly underway. The regional minister responsible for infrastructure is also scheduled to visit the site personally to oversee progress — another sign that this is being treated seriously at the highest level.
What’s actually being built
This isn’t a small traffic-calming measure. The project calls for a proper large-scale roundabout with the following specifications:
- Outer diameter of approximately 60 metres — significantly larger than a standard urban roundabout.
- Two lanes of circulation, designed to handle high traffic volumes.
- Full replacement of the existing junction layout.
Those dimensions matter. A 60-metre roundabout is built for volume and speed management on a main road, not just for a quiet local junction. It’s designed to last and to work properly under the kind of summer traffic pressure that this road experiences every year.
The entire cost is being covered by the Junta de Andalucía’s Consejería de Fomento — the regional government’s infrastructure department. This is not a local budget squeeze: it’s a properly funded regional project.
Why this matters if you own or are thinking of buying property here
British and Irish buyers in this part of Almería tend to be practical people. They’re not just looking for sunshine — they’ve done their research, they understand the area, and they ask the right questions. One of those questions is almost always about infrastructure and accessibility.
A dangerous junction at the main entrance to a town is exactly the kind of thing that gives buyers pause. It affects how residents feel about their daily lives, how easily visitors can arrive, and — if we’re being direct about it — how the area is perceived more broadly.
Replacing that junction with a well-designed roundabout that improves traffic flow, reduces accidents and makes arrival into the town feel straightforward is a genuine quality-of-life improvement. It also sends a signal: this is a place where infrastructure investment is happening, where problems get solved, and where the local and regional authorities are putting real money into improving conditions on the ground.
For anyone considering a property purchase in Garrucha specifically — or in the Levante comarca more generally — that signal is worth paying attention to.
The bigger picture: Almería’s Levante is being transformed
The Garrucha roundabout doesn’t exist in isolation. It’s part of a wave of infrastructure improvements that are genuinely changing the face of this stretch of coastline. Some of these projects are already complete. Others are in progress. And one is a long-term game-changer that will take years to fully materialise.
Mojácar bypass: already done
The second section of the coastal bypass around Mojácar, on the road between Garrucha and Los Gallardos, has already been completed and opened to traffic. This work was specifically designed to reduce accident rates on the A-370 through that section, and it has done exactly that. It’s proof that the regional government is following through on road safety commitments in this area — not just making announcements.
Vera Playa eco-boulevard: a project in development
Further up the coast, the main road through Vera Playa — the long beachside strip that many British and Irish residents know well — is set to be transformed into what’s being described as an eco-boulevard. The project, promoted through the PAI del Levante, envisions a complete redesign of that road as a greener, more pedestrian and cyclist-friendly corridor. Detailed plans have been published and the concept is serious. This is about reimagining how that entire seafront road functions and feels.
High-speed rail: the long game
And then there’s the AVE — Spain’s high-speed rail network. A new station is planned to extend the network’s reach to Almería, connecting the province to the national high-speed grid. For a coastal area that has historically been most accessible by car or plane, proper rail connectivity is a significant development. It won’t happen overnight, but the plans are in motion, and the eventual impact on accessibility — and therefore on the property market — could be substantial.
Taken together, these aren’t random coincidences. They represent a sustained commitment to modernising the infrastructure of a coastline that already has genuine natural advantages: reliable sunshine, affordable property prices relative to other parts of Mediterranean Spain, a mix of unspoilt beaches and working local towns, and a well-established community of northern European residents who’ve chosen to make their lives here.
What thirty years in this market tells us
At ZAR 2010, we’ve been selling property in Garrucha, Vera, Mojácar and San Juan de los Terreros for three decades. We’ve seen projects announced and shelved, promises made and forgotten, and genuine improvements that changed the character of particular streets or whole neighbourhoods.
What’s happening right now feels different from the usual cycle of announcements. The roundabout has its signage up and a start date. The Mojácar bypass section is already open. The Vera Playa boulevard has published plans and institutional backing. The high-speed rail connection is part of a national infrastructure programme that has clear momentum.
Infrastructure improvements of this kind tend to have a slow but real effect on property values and on buyer confidence. Areas with good road access, attractive public spaces and rail connectivity attract a broader range of buyers. Properties in those areas hold their value more reliably. And people who are on the fence about making a purchase often find that a visible improvement in local infrastructure is what finally tips the decision.
For the people of Garrucha: this is personal
It would be easy to look at all of this purely through a property market lens, but it’s worth stepping back for a moment. For the people who live in Garrucha year-round — Spanish families, long-established British and Irish residents, the fishing community, the shopkeepers and restaurant owners — the junction at La Simona has been a source of anxiety and genuine grief for a very long time.
Too many people have been involved in accidents there. Too many families have had close calls. The community has been asking for this fix for years, and the fact that it’s now actually happening — with machinery about to arrive, a proper design in place and regional government funding secured — matters in a way that goes beyond traffic management statistics.
A town that solves a problem its residents have lived with for decades is a town with a functioning relationship between its community and its institutions. That’s not a small thing.
A good moment to be paying attention to this part of Almería
The Levante coast of Almería has always offered something distinctive: a combination of genuine local character, relatively affordable property, reliable climate and easy access to both coast and inland countryside. What it has sometimes lacked is the infrastructure confidence that buyers — particularly those coming from the UK or Ireland — tend to want before committing to a purchase.
That gap is closing. Not through hype or marketing, but through concrete investment in roads, public spaces and transport links that make daily life here noticeably better.
If you’re thinking about buying in Garrucha, Vera, Mojácar or San Juan de los Terreros — whether as a holiday home, a retirement base or a permanent move — and you’d like to talk to people who have been working this market for thirty years and know it properly, ZAR 2010 is here to help. No pressure, no sales patter — just honest information from people who know this stretch of coastline as well as anyone.
