Things to see on your next Torrevieja and Alicante holiday
Torrevieja is one of the most important summer holiday spots in
the province of Alicante, about 50 kilometres from the city of
Alicante and making
up what is known as the Costa Blanca or The White Coast.
Torrevieja and the town of Pilar de la Horadada are in the
southern tip, the last towns before you head into the province
of Murcia. When making holiday plans, if you are to arrive there
by plane, the closest airport would be the one in Alicante
called the Altet. It has great flight combinations with the rest
of Europe, especially when flying in from England. It would only
take you about half an hour at the most to get safely to your
hotel if you have thought about a car hire. Look for the highway
marked N-332 heading south and you are set. There are some bus
companies connecting Torrevieja with Alicante, Elche, Murcia and
other towns and cities. There are even hotels which have the
convenient service of picking up its guests. And if you are in a
hurry or do not want to be bothered driving and wish to take in
the lovely scenery, then a taxi would do you well.
Salt and Habaneras from Torrevieja
In order to give directions, everyone referred to this town as
where the old tower is and therefore in Spanish - Torrevieja
a>, which when translated to English means ‘ an old
tower’. This swampy marsh area has been known for its high
quality production of salt and one of the places frquently used
to store the dried salt was in towers. There was one particular
tower which was knocked down when this area was hit by an
earthquake in 1829. Even nowadays, this whole area is constantly
being shaken by earthquakes, one of the last ones was just a few
months ago. Although it is visited thanks to its beautiful
beaches such as the Cura, the Locos or the Mata, it is also
visited because it has become popular for its habaneras, Cuban
music. One might think that it is quite strange that such far
away music has planted its roots so strongly in a little salt
mining town in Spain. But there is a very reasonable
explanation. Torrevieja carried on a constant flow of salt
trading with Cuba and the sailors who did this route were
spellbound by this lively music and wanted to share it with
their home folks and brought it back here. As we can well see,
its has been happily transmitted from one generation to another.
There is a fantastic international music festival of habaneras
held annually at the end of July or the beginning of August. If
you are in the area at this time of the year and wish further
details, the Patronizer of the Competition ( Patronato Municipal
del Certamen International de Habaneras ) can help you or look
in the web.
Natural Parks to visit
When you leave Torrevieja on the highway marked C-332, you will
be heading for the Natural park of the Lagoons of the Mata. To
be sure you will be able to visit this paradise correctly, it
would be recommendable to get information and book a date
because there is a maximum of 35 people allowed at a time. The
most interesting fauna are the birds like the stone curlew and
in the winter there is a great concentration of the diving birds
and important nucleus of storks, eagles and and avocets. On the
other hand, the salt swamps export salt all over the world. And
if that was not enough, salt baths are also recommended for some
types of illnesses such as arthritis and skin diseases having
become quite popular in the 19th century. But the best part of
this excursion is when the sun reflects in these salt
mountains.
Even though this city has a lot to do, it is easy and fun to
make day excursion travelling up the Costa Blanca to visit Santa
Pola on the outskirts of Alicante, then on to Benidorm
with its fantastic theme parks of all kinds, Altea and Javea.
Get the most out of your stay and travel.