What to see in Torrevieja

Torrevieja grew up around salt extraction, an activity documented since before the 13th century that still shapes the town's landscape and economy. The modern settlement dates from 1803, when Carlos IV ordered the Royal Salt Works administration moved to the site of the old watchtower, Torre Vieja, that gives the city its name. An earthquake in 1829 destroyed the existing town completely; it was rebuilt afterward on the grid layout that much of today's centre still follows, and the city received its city charter in 1931, granted by Alfonso XIII. The modernist Casino de Torrevieja, built in 1896, is another landmark that still defines the historic centre.

The salt flats and the natural pools

The La Mata and Torrevieja lagoons, protected as a natural park, owe their pink colour to microorganisms that thrive in the concentrated brine. Salt extraction continues today, with annual production of around 600,000 tonnes, much of it exported; the old Eras de la Sal, in use between 1777 and 1958, survive as a piece of industrial architecture, and the Museo del Mar y de la Sal explains that process. The lagoons also draw birdwatchers, since flamingos and other wading birds feed in the shallow, mineral-rich water. Along the Juan Aparicio seafront promenade, stone breakwaters built to calm the waves create the so-called natural pools, a sheltered bathing area between Playa del Cura and La Marina, quite different from an open beach.

The seafront and the festival

The Dique de Levante, which shelters the marina, has become a popular walking route with views over the bay, and to the south the municipality still has quieter coves such as Cala Ferris and the defensive Torre de la Mata, built facing the sea as part of the historic coastal watch system. Every July since 1955, the Certamen Internacional de Habaneras y Polifonía has filled the city's auditorium with choirs from different countries, honouring the seafaring past that carried these songs from Cuba to the Alicante coast. The competition has grown into one of the most established choral music events on the Mediterranean coast.

The municipality's population, just over 98,000 registered residents, has grown steadily since the 1980s, when it had barely 13,000 residents, thanks to residential tourism, and Torrevieja is today the third most populous municipality in the province. Mild weather through the winter months is one reason for that growth, drawing residents from other European countries who spend part or all of the year on the coast.