Alan's Torrevieja Guide

Torrevieja which literally translates as "old tower" which as you can see are dotted up and down the coast to watch for Moroccan pirates that roamed the seas in the med for centuries.

Torrevieja owes much of its wealth and history to its two salt lagoons that make up 1.400 and 700 hectares respectively. The lagoons are owned by the Spanish government and actually make up 55% of the area of the town. The dry and hot weather of the area, with little rain and high level of salt create the perfect environment for salt production, currently they export 1 million tonnes p.a. making Torrevieja the largest exporter of Salt in Europe.

Occasionally the salterns (as they are called) dry up to form a dry salt crust. The salterns also account for the high level of iodine in the air leading the area to be called one of the healthiest areas in the world (according to W.H.O), people with arthritis etc do claim to lead a healthier life here because of it.

The salt lakes were originally royal hunting grounds, and belonged to the crown. Hunting licenses were granted to allies of the king. In the middle of the 13th century warrants were issued granting residents of nearby Orihuela permission to harvest salt, an expensive commodity in the middle ages, the town began to take shape at laMata or Torrelamata as it was known. Torrelamata and Ibiza became the most important centres for salt production in the kingdom of Aragon.

Italians then inhabited the area from the isle of Tabarca, where descendents of the original Italian population can still be found, they were given royal sanctuary in the Napoleonic period. Conditions in the nearby Torrevieja Lake were not as favourable so the lake was converted in to a fishery.

A canal was built to link the lake to the sea, this can still be seen in between the harbour and playa de la Acequion. The canal was damaged in 1500 by a dramatic storm and was derelict for 9 years thereafter. Soon after the urbanisation moved to the safer Torrevigia area (now Torrevieja) where the salt workers relocated for safety next to the tower, from there the town has grown and grown. The first written reference about Torrevieja was found in the geographic study about the "Reino de Valencia" (king of Spain) undertaken by Mr Antonio Cavanillesin 1767.

In 1803 the town officially moved its administration from La Mata to Torrevieja, and at this point there were close to 1500 people living there. The development of the harbour allowed Torre to become more important as a port in its own right, exporting local produce throughout the med. This led to its 1820 independence from Orihuela a much older and developed town.

Sadly Torre's history has not always been rosy, an earthquake, which took place on The 21st of March 1829, marks Torrevieja's history. This disaster was converted into a starting point for Torrevieja's development in many aspects, especially urbanistic. The earthquake destroyed 534 homes in Torrevieja, and more in villages nearby like Almoradí for example, where the number of victims reached 192 dead and 152 wounded. Arquitect José Agustín de Larramendi was assigned the duty of reconstructing the village. You can still see his outline plans within the town as he set out the block grid pattern you see today, the single storey buildings in the old town are testimony to reconstruction and represent an attempt to stem massive damage in another quake. The main church in the plaza de la constitution was built from the masonry from the quake.

Torrevieja is famous for the Certamen de Habaneras y Polifonía, declared as international touristic interest is celebrated to honour the "Torrevejenses" (people born in Torrevieja) who traded with Cuba, (former Spanish colony and home to the Habanera songs that the sailors sang on their way back to Spain). They are held in the Palacio de musica on the Avda de las Haberneras every year and choirs compete from all around the world to win the coveted title, in years gone by a welsh choir have won. Traditionally the habaneras were sea shantys sung by Spanish sailors returning from Cuba. In 1931 the zone was recognised as a city because of its growth in commercial importance. Torrevieja has been changing, developing and improving for many years.

Today the lagoons have been declared natural and protected areas and they are very interesting due to the numerous kinds of birds and plants which live or pass by there, and are a perfect example of the areas faun and flora.

It was back in the 1960´s when Torrevieja started its deep transformation to become a touristic resort. For many years Torrevieja has been the fastest growing town in Europe and now has been proven to have had a registered population growth of 135.2% between 1991 and 2001 according to the annual economic report on the Alicante province released by the La Caixa bank on Wednesday 4th of June 2002.