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The underwater vegetation of the Mar Menor originated, logically, from the species present along the Mediterranean coast. One of the strangest characteristics of the Mar Menor is the vegetation situated on the soft substratum, mud and sand. Most of it is covered in fields of green algae adapted to marine life. No other known lagoon has such an important seabed of these species.

The fine shell strewn sand at the bottom of the lagoon doesn’t have large masses of vegetation forming on it, but it does enclose a species unique to the Mar Menor. The best known of these, without a doubt, is the Prawn of the Mar Menor (Penai Kerathurus), a typical inhabitant of the sandy bottom of La Manga and centre of an important fishing industry which has grown up around it due to its high commercial value.

The fauna of the Mar Menor depends on the exchange of species that occurs with the Mediterranean. The muddy bottom situated below the spa baths was colonised by sponges, which attracted the fish of the lagoon. Red Mullet, Mujol and Sprats abound. A glance under the rocks reveals Zorros and Blénidos and Eels. But this doesn’t mean to say that Herrings, Prawns, Sole, Lubina, and Sea Bream have disappeared from the interior of this beautiful sea, so rich in salt and iodine.

The crustaceans such as the “crancas”, which are typical in the Mar Menor, can live in areas where the lack of oxygen permits it, in other words, near the coast, and although more usual on hard surfaces, Oysters fix themselves easily on the bottom of the shell-strewn sand of the seabed.

Among the leaves of the algae you can often find Sea Horses, which attach themselves to them by means of their tails, wrapping them around the base of the algae. The Agujas, with a similar form of life and with a long sinuous shape, camouflage themselves among the vegetation, at times taking on the form of the leaves.

The kings of gastronomy are the fish. All are excellent and of an amazing variety. As one has to mention something we shall name the gilthead and mullet, baked in salt and grilled.

As an aperitif, the famed Mar Menor prawn, which is caught there. And the salazones (salted fish), whose qualities the ancient Romans knew about; mojama, salted dry tuna, las huevas de mujol, dried grey mullet roe and the tuna de ijada, tuna from the flank, which are usually accompanied by tender raw broadbeans, or fried almonds. These are an example of the accomplished techniques that are employed in the area for presenting salazones.

The ancient Mastienos (people who inhabited this area long ago) employed these techniques of fish conservation by using salt, before the arrival of the Carthaginians.

To all this one must add the rich vegetables of the region of Murcia, with which dishes such as mojete murciano, vegetable salad, perdices de lechuga, small lettuce heads, cantonal salad, michirones, (stew of broadbeans, ham, bacon and spices), peas with ham, and fried tomato and peppers are made.

In the chapter on desserts, the fruit of the area is of excellent quality, in particular melons, peaches and watermelons.

With regard to pastries; the Pastel Cierva. This original dessert, somewhere between sweet and salty, is a recommended couple for the rice and fish stew caldero, although special mention should also be made of the Tocino de Cielo, pudding made with eggyolk and syrup, and the Sopa Real made from almonds and eggyolk, the arrope, syrup made from fruit and vegetables soaked in honey, and for coffee, an Asiático with condensed milk, cognac and cinnamon.

The Mar Menor had five gullets or vital arteries: Harco, Tower, Ventorrillo, el Estacio and Marchamalo. These linked with the Mediterranean and the “big sea” blew in its revitalising energy and bay fish – to a lagoon where salinity reaches 52º per thousand in summer (14º more than the Mediterranean waters in the same season) and in which the cane fish traps of Moorish times were for many centuries characteristic of the Mar Menor. These ingenious labyrinths, hand-made with canes, stakes and nets deceived and trapped the fish in dead end traps or compartments from which the fish were taken out live (a task known as “desempescar” or de-fishing) using “salabres” and flat boats known as “planks” to take the fish to shore.

The “crossing” is the device or barrier of canes and net that starts from the gullet and guides the fish towards their rustic prison. The Estacio was the champion mullet trap, whereas Torres and Charco came top for the highly prized gilthead sea bream. The marine fauna also has its mystery.

The langoustine is caught with a “langostinera” put out at night until the following day to be picked up, still live, for transport to the fish markets.

Another ingenious system of fishing in the Mar Menor consists of fitting a net perpendicular to the coast that finishes in a “Moorish net” (a spiral net). When the fish come up against the barrier they follow the perpendicular net to the shore and enter the spiral from which they cannot escape and will be caught.

Of the five cane fish cages that were in use in the 1960’s, Torres and Ventorrillo were owned by the State and were leased out at public auction. Owners and lessees held the thick of the fishing and prevented the modest fishermen of the lagoon from getting near. There were 140 boats and about 800 men at that time.

It was in San Pedro del Pinatar where the first and only Brotherhood of Fishermen of the lagoon was based and where in 1918 the first Association of Fishermen was founded: The Naval Office and “Seafarers Union” date from 1983.
Another peculiarity of the place gives us the custom of counting in “arrobas” of 18kg. So, to the well-known question of “how much did you catch today?” usually asked at the foot of the pier in Lo Pagan, one does not respond in kilos but in 18 kilo lots.

Up until 1960 the most abundant specialities of the Mar Menor were the mullet (local varieties known as pardete, galupe, galua, lisa or grey mullet and nosraguto) Gilthead bream, red mullet and “magre”. In 1967 and 1971 eels were predominant and although 1965, 1966 and 1967 were authentic years of crisis for the prawn, the truth is that the fishing and commercial awakening of this crustacean king did not take place until 1968.

The average annual temperature is 17ºC, and the average for the months of June, July, August and September is above 21ºC. Winter is very mild, with the average temperature of the cold months not falling below 10ºC.

Another point to emphasise is the scarce quantity of rain, with less than 300 sq. l. per year.

The dryness of the area is obvious, above all because of its 320 days and 3000 hours of sunshine a year.

These weather conditions allow us the privilege of savouring a climate of the Gods in the Mar Menor all year round.

The temperature of the water is closely related to the atmospheric temperature, as corresponds to a relatively small mass of water for the scale on which the atmospheric process operates. This situation makes the thermal inertia of the lagoon less than that of the Mediterranean.

In the coldest months the temperature of the water is about 1ºC while in August it reaches 30ºC. In certain places near the shore, due to the shallow water the range can be from 8ºC to 36ºC in high summer. On the other hand the spacial distribution of the water is uniform, with differences between the areas of only 1-2ºC.

The saltiness of the water ranges from 42 ‰ and 47 ‰ compared with 36-38 ‰ in the Mediterranean. During the year higher values can be found in September – October and minimum values in the period from January – May.

The history of the area dates back to Palaeolithic times. Most of the settlements that are well documented come from Roman and Arabic periods . There is a good archaeological record from these periods with many remains and artifacts.

This was an important area for the Romans, valued for the salt industry which they developed there. There was also a lot of seafaring traffic, from which developed some industrial settlement. This traffic was possible because in Roman times the Mar Menor was joined to the Mediterranean. Over a period of many years the sea became closed off and about 1000 years ago it took on the aspect that it has now.

The Romans called it Belich and they referred to it as a port of refuge even for heavy vessels, due to its much greater depth at that time.

Ancient chronicles, such as the Libro de Montería de Alfonso X, speak about the rich fauna and beautiful landscape of the area. It’s known that the fauna was very numerous. The island of Ciervo maintains the name of the animal that inhabited it, the deer, and in Pinatar, long ago, there was wild boar hunting.

Wild life abounds and you can find still find guinea fowl ,thrushes, ducks and other water birds that winter in the cool waters of this unique sea. Arabic and Carthaginian writers of the period also wrote of the importance of the salt mines to the north of this area, which today is one of the most important marshlands of Spain, together with the fishing art called Encañizada, which has practically disappeared these days.

San Pedro del Pinatar offers the true spanish experience. An unspoilt town alongside the protected waters of the Mar Menor, where sailing is available, the town offers all amenities such as shops, bars and restaurants.

With the health benefits of the nearby salt lake where people bath, there is horseriding and many walks in the area, ”San Pedro” offers a truely enjoyable and relaxing experience.

San Pedro is less than a 15 minutes drive to the international airport of San Javier in Murcia

At 48 Km from Alicante one finds the town of Torrevieja, whose international population live beside the sea and salt lakes. The explotation of salt in Torrevieja and La Mata has a long history, but had its main period in the nineteenth century. The salt from Torrevieja is exported all over the world from its port. Beside the marina one still finds the areas where the salt was loaded onto the ships that travelled to Cuba and returned with the traditional songs and dances that make “Habaneras” the towns traditional fiestas every summer.

After passing through Torrevieja, one reaches the coastline belonging to Orihuela, where there are sandy beaches, coves and bays alongside wide open spaced residential areas that accommodate visitors to the area.

Punta Prima, Playa Flamenca, La Zenia, Cabo Roig and Dehesa de Campoamor are some of the tourist enclaves of this area. Many of these have specialised in seasonal holiday occupation combined with the excellent golf courses in the area. The many green areas and trees provide the perfect conditions to play this sport.

Castalla is situated in the centre of a beautiful valley which has the name of Foia de Castalla, surrounded by mountains that in some cases reach more than 1000 metres in height.

The town is situated beside a small mountain which has a historic medieval castle at its highest point. Castalla is very well communicated with the motorway to Madrid, and Alicante and its airport via the new road A-36. The nearest towns are Onil, Tibi, Ibi and Biar, all of them within ten kilometres.

The typical dish of Castalla is “Gaspatxo”. It is a typical dish whose ingredients include a special type of bread with chicken, rabbit, mushrooms and fried tomatoes and onions.

In Castalla, there is also horse-riding and country walks in the area.

From Denia to Pilar de la Horadada on the coast and from Villena to Orihuela inland, Alicante offers 5.900 km2 of contrasting landscape.

Alicante completely mediterranean, with pleasant sunshine all through the year, especially on the coast, with an average temperature of 18.6 ºC has many towns where it is possible to find advanced industries to open residencial areas where many foreign visitors have made it their second home.

- Close to Alicante airport - approx 30 minutes away
- Many picturesque golf developments
- Thriving community
- Developing area

The South Costa Blanca is quite different to the North Costa Blanca. The South is an area of lowlands in general appearance, bordered by conservation areas and salt lakes to the west and the Mediterranean and Mar Menor (Europes largest inland saltwater lake) to the east.

There is a vast range of wonderful shallow sandy beaches and the geography makes this an ideal golfing location , or indeed a golfers paradise. There are several newly constructed championship standard golf courses in the area. The courses provide the perfect and idyllic setting for huge selection of high quality apartments, bungalows and villas. The area has attracted considerable investment and has excellent the facilities on offer.

The Seafood, shellfish and other fish of the southern Costa Blanca is also legendary throughout Spain. It is landed daily at the local ports. This coast is protected by the Crevillente mountains to the west and with the warm Mediterranean sea on its eastern shores gives this part of Spain a perfect winter climate in which to enjoy ones retirement. Temperatures range around a comfortable 20 C in the Winter to a maximum average of about 30 C in the summer.