Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario (La Mata)

The Iglesia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario stands at the heart of La Mata, the second historic quarter of Torrevieja, about five kilometres north of the centre. Devotion here dates back to 1609, when the bishop of the Diocese of Orihuela, Fray Andrés de Balaguer, established a small hermitage dependent on the parish of Guardamar, where a barefoot friar from Elche said Mass once a month, since La Mata had no clergy of its own at the time and depended entirely on neighbouring parishes.

History

That hermitage lasted until 1772, when a parish in its own right was established under the same dedication, with the Crown funding construction of the new church. On 8 December that year, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, the Eucharist was placed in the building, which then began functioning as La Mata's provisional parish. Ever since, Our Lady of the Rosary has been the neighbourhood's patron saint, and her festivities, organised together with the Cofradía de Nuestra Señora del Rosario de Torrelamata, mark the local calendar every October, with the Rosario de la Aurora procession at its centre. The brotherhood also organises other events throughout the year, so La Mata's parish life still revolves largely around this church despite its modest size.

Visiting

La Mata itself keeps a different feel from central Torrevieja, quieter and historically tied to fishing and the area's salt flats. A short walk from the church, the Parque Natural de las Lagunas de La Mata y Torrevieja is known for its pink-tinted lagoon, and along the coast the Torre de La Mata survives, another watchtower tied to the same history of coastal defence as the Parroquia de la Inmaculada Concepción back in the centre, an easy stop to combine on the same short trip out of town by car, ideally earlier in the day before the heat sets in.