One of the delights of a coastal holiday in Spain is eating fresh fish on the beach while burying your toes in the sand and knowing that you´re eating fresh, km 0 food. Those sardines that you watched cooking over coals outside the beach bar kitchen, from sea to fire to plate. Pure joy.

What is an Espeto

Espeto comes from the Spanish verb espetar which means to skewer. It´s said that this method of cooking was invented by a local fisherman to entertain King Alfonso XII. Cooking fish this way simply entails threading or skewering the fish on a wooden stick and cooking them over coals on a boat. It is usually sardines that are cooked this way from May to August. There´s a saying that they are best cooked in months without an ´R´ in them.

Where to Eat Espetos in Spain

This delicious way of cooking is very common on the southern beaches of the Granada and Málaga coastline. It may look easy but to cook the fish, but to cook them to perfection it is an art that takes time and many sardines to perfect, when you have you can call yourself an Espetero.

Espetos on Granada´s Coast

The Dorada de Plata on the beach of San Cristóbal is the place to go for sardines in Almuñécar in nearby Salobreña it´s the equally good Casa Emilio. In Motril where else should you go but the beach bar called El Espeto.

It´s not only sardines that is cooked in this way octopus or pulpo is also skewered a la espeto and is known as Salobreña-style octopus, a local delicacy, but also a work of art. The tentacles, when cooked, resemble women´s hair. Where to go for this treat? El Peñón, La Bahía or Bar Manolo are where you want to be. And of course throughout the summer months is the time to sample them.