Torre de La Mata

The Torre de La Mata watches over the seafront of the La Mata district, within the municipality of Torrevieja, next to Plaza del Embarcadero. Its origins date to the 14th century, though the structure visible today is a 16th-century rebuild by military engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli, who also worked on other towers along the Valencian coast.

A tower in service of the salt trade

Unlike other coastal watchtowers built purely for surveillance, this one also protected a pier used to load salt and other goods from the nearby salt pans. A military engineer's report from 1787 notes that the tower was armed with a bronze cannon at the time. Circular in plan and cone-shaped, with a diameter of around five metres, it underwent its last major documented repair in 1982 and was declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1995.

What remains today

The tower stands alone, folded into La Mata's seafront promenade, and is one of the neighbourhood's landmarks, close to the beach. It has no regular museum use, so the visit amounts to viewing it from outside and reading the information panels nearby. It pairs well with a visit to the Torre del Moro, a little further south, or the Parque Natural de las Lagunas de La Mata y Torrevieja, whose green lagoon gives this coastal district its name. Access is free at all times.