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You may have tried the delicious tapas the city of Almeria in Spain is famous for. You may have been to visit the rusting hulk ‘El Cable Inglés’ which local almerienses are so proud of. But you may not know that, tucked away in the Plaza de Flores in a leafy corner of the city centre, John Lennon sits on a bench with his guitar, immortalised in intense concentration in bronze as he picks out the chords and writes the words to a song no one will hear.

 

Of course, The Beatles’ music is popular in Spain, as it is everywhere else. But the Beatles only played two gigs in Spain, and that was to less-than-enthusiastic crowds in Madrid and Barcelona in 1965.

 

So why did they put a statue of John Lennon in Almeria, of all places?

 

As the plaque accompanying the statue explains, the dedication to John is due to the fact that he supposedly wrote ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ while he was staying in Almeria in 1966.

 

The desert land around Almeria has been used as the location for filming various westerns and other movies over the years, and the province’s Playa de Monsul beach is famous for appearing in flicks such as Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and Neverending Story.

 

John Lennon was in Almeria in 1966 for the shooting of ‘How I Won the War’, and in breaks between filming took time to compose one of The Beatles’ best-known hits. So momentous was this event that the Ayuntamiento de Almería, the City Council, felt it appropriate to erect a monument to John in 2006.

 

Sculpted by Carmen Mudarra, the statue shows Lennon in his army fatigues and boots that he wore for filming, along with his trademark round spectacles.

 

When John was in Almeria, he stayed in the finca Santa Isabel (also known as the Cortijo Romero), where he recorded the first demo tapes of ‘Strawberry Fields’ in the presence of his first wife Cynthia and bandmate Ringo Starr.

 

The house has since been converted into Almeria’s Casa del Cine, or Cinema House museum, where John is also honoured with his very own room dedicated to him. Called the ‘Source of Inspiration Room’, it is adorned with pictures and memorabilia of the time John spent in Spain.

 

The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday in the mornings and afternoons.

 

Incidentally, there is a very good and quite funny modern movie filmed in Almeria, ‘Vivir es Fácil con los Ojos Cerrados’ (‘Living is Easy with Eyes Closed’) that fictionalises Lennon's trip to Spain, starring the excellent Javier Cámara.

 

A few years later, John Lennon would marry Yoko Ono in the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar, which borders Andalucía.

 

An essential stop for all Beatles fans visiting this corner of southeast Spain and a quirky curiosity for the casual tourist, be sure to try and visit the statue of John Lennon in Almeria, and take a photo with your arm around him on the bench!

 

 

If you’re looking for the statue, you’ll find it in the northwestern part of the city centre, in the Plaza de Flores, just outside the Hotel Nuevo Torreluz.

 

 

 

 

While you’re out and about in the city of Almeria, you’re bound to stumble upon several other funny statues. Almeria has made something of a name for itself with statues of ordinary people who are *ahem* on the large side, doing everyday things.

 

Perhaps the best-known is the statue of the tubby sunbather wearing Speedos and sitting in his deckchair down by the seafront of the Playa de San Miguel. Located at the start of the beach, not far from the Cable Inglés, observers may wonder whether the chubby chappy is reading a book or trying to soak up some extra rays with a tinfoil sun reflector.

 

Other, less famous examples of hidden statues in Almeria include the person lying on top of a kiosk on the Rambla Obispo Orberá, looking up dreamily into the sky, and the housewife just around the corner in the Plaza de San Sebastián who is sitting in front of the Parroquia de San Sebastián parish church.