A beautiful municipality

Today we spend a day in Guardamar del Segura. This town is located next to the mouth of the Segura River. It has 11 kilometres of beaches and 800 hectares of pine forest by the sea. A beautiful municipality is full of corners that you will love.

How to get to Guardamar del Segura?

Guardamar is located south of capital Alicante. There are two ways to get there. Either use the national road N-332. This road leads you 38 kilometres along the coast and has beautiful scenery. However can be very busy in summer. Another option is the A-7 motorway which is less busy but takes a 78-kilometre drive.

What to visit in Guardamar?

The Archaeological Museum

In this museum (MAG) they show the details of the different archaeological sites of the municipality. Such as Rábita Califal and Cabezo Lucero. In this last one, they found the Iberian bust of the Lady of Guardamar.

It was the 22nd of September that they discovered this ancient artefact. A small piece of stone appeared at a shallow depth. The first fragment of a bust of an Iberian lady, with similarities to the Lady of Elche.

House of Francisco Mira y Botella

The museum shares the entrance with the house in which Francisco Mira lived during the reforestation work of the dunes. And in its different rooms, you can see some of the utensils used for that task.

The castle

The restored remains of the castle and citadel of the old village of Guardamar are on the top of a hill. An earthquake destroyed these remains in 1829. There is a spectacular panoramic view of the region from this point. They were able to save some of the urban elements of the defensive structure. For example, the Baluart de la Pòlvora and the canvases of walls and low medieval towers.

Alfonso XIII Park

This park actually is the extensive pine forest of Guardamar. During excavations, they discovered different archaeological sites of Phoenician (La Fonteta) and Arabic (Rábita Califal) origin below its surface.

Here we find a small walled town of Phoenician origin (8th to 7th century BC). It is located on the right bank of the Segura river. Experts say that inside the area with walls they found remains of houses where things were crafted. It is one of the most complex and best-preserved Phoenician cities in the western world.

The Califal Rábita of the Dunes of Guardamar del Segura is the only monastic Islamic assembly of the Omeya Andalusí period (X-XI century) preserved almost in its entirety. 22 oratory cells compose it, organized around two main streets. Devoted and pilgrims lived together in this monastery, all attracted by the spiritual retreat that Islam demands. The Hispano-Muslim community saw the Mediterranean seafront as a border. This explains its installation so close to the sea.

The dunes were completely deserted until the end of the 19th century. As a result, they slowly advanced towards the town. Because of this forestry engineer, Francisco Mira y Botella projected a reforestation plan which managed to slow and consolidate this ecosystem.

The mouth of the Segura River

It is located northeast of the Alfonso XII park. It is easy to spot numerous fishermen on the jetty that throw their rods to the sea. At this point, the Segura River finishes its 325 km route. It springs to life in the Sierra de Segura and passes through different municipalities of Jaén, Albacete, Murcia and Alicante. It could be a nice place having a pick-nick during your day in Guardamar del Segura.

There is a bird-watching tower in the Gola del Segura. Green routes connect Guardamar with other towns upstream. These routes go parallel along both riverbanks. These routes lead to Orihuela and Murcia. In addition, there are roads that adjoin the river that is ideal for hiking and cycling.

The Queen Sofia Park

Between the Alfonso XIII park and the urban centre lays the smaller Reina Sofia park. It has different lagoons inhabited by different bird species such as terrapins. And in the treetops, you can see squirrels.

Paseo de Francisco Mira

This promenade divides the two mentioned parks from east to west. At different points, we can see some texts referring to important milestones in the history of Guardamar.

Church of Sant Jaume

Engineer Larramendi, the author of the urban plan of the new Guardamar, designed this church. It was built after the earthquakes of 1829. It is a neoclassical building with a high tower on the access door. Some items inside were salvaged from the old parish, such as some canvases, pieces of goldsmithing. In addition, the carvings of Sant Jaume Pelegrí and Mare de Déu del Rosari are also on display.

The Tower of the Americans

Known in other municipalities as an antenna of Guardamar. The Tower of the Americans is the highest structure in Spain and the highest military construction in Europe. It is 370 metres high and dates from 1962. Currently in use as maritime traffic, especially submarine, control.

Nature

In the 1940s and 50s, the hills near Guardamar were reforested, especially with pine trees. In these hills, the flora and fauna of the Mediterranean abound. The most important peaks do not exceed 200 metres. Such as the Montcaio, les Raboses, the Palleret, l’Estany and the Molar. We can enjoy spectacular views when going up these hills and look over the mainly flat surroundings. The island of Tabarca and the coast of Santa Pola show to the North. And to the south, we can appreciate the beach and salt lagoons of the municipality. We can even see the old orchard stretching out towards the city of Orihuela in the background.

What to eat in Guardamar del Segura?

Fish is one of the star products of the gastronomy of Guardamar del Segura, cooked in all its variants. Salted sea bass and grilled meat can be found on most of the menus together with different recipes with rice. Although without doubt, the king dish of the area is the cauldron.

Another tradition of the locality is the flavouring of the typical cocido of the region with the filling or the meatballs.

A quality local product is the ñora. A pepper ball, that after a process of cultivation and drying in the dunes, is prepared to flavour all kinds of rice and fish.