Garrucha

Garrucha is a municipality of Almería province, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Garrucha is a seaport of south-eastern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea and the right bank of the river Antas. In 1998 the town had a population of 5000. The harbor of Garrucha, which is defended by an eighteenth-century castle, affords shelter to large ships, and is the natural outlet for the commerce of a once thriving agricultural and mining district. Garrucha had, at the beginning of the twentieth century a considerable trade in lead, silver, copper, iron, esparto grass and fruit, but now the only export from its harbour is gypsum mined in Sorbas, with a million metric tonnes being exported annually. Besides cargo ships, the port is home to a small fishing fleet and has approximately 300 moorings for leisure boats.