La Mata is a small seaside district on the northern edge of Torrevieja, with two kilometres of open beach on one side and a protected natural park of salt lagoons on the other. This page is what we tell our own guests: what is worth the walk, what is worth the drive, and what is not what the old guidebooks say it is.
Everything below is within a short walk or a twenty minute drive of both of our apartments. The three main places each have their own photo gallery, linked from the section.
Playa de la Mata runs for more than two kilometres of open golden sand, backed by a dune system that is one of the last undeveloped stretches on this part of the Costa Blanca. Behind the dunes lies the natural park of the La Mata and Torrevieja lagoons, which is why the beach never picked up the wall of hotels that shaped the coast either side of it.
Most beaches on the Costa Blanca are short bays hemmed in by promenades. La Mata is the opposite: a long, straight run of sand where you can walk for half an hour in one direction and still have beach ahead of you. It fills up around the beach bars in August and thins out within a few hundred metres in either direction, so finding space is a matter of walking, not of arriving early.
The dune belt between the sand and the road is the reason the beach looks the way it does. It is a protected area of vegetation where species that had all but disappeared from this coast have come back. Stay on the marked crossings rather than cutting through: the plants that hold the sand together are the part that takes longest to recover.
The Blue Flag is not a general compliment about a pretty beach. It is an annual award that has to be re-earned every season, and the section here that carries it is La Mata-Sur, one of six flagged beaches in Torrevieja for 2026. A jury checks bathing water quality, safety of bathers, universal accessibility, cleanliness, the lifeguard and rescue service, and environmental education programmes.
Lighthouse Dunamar stands on the beachfront, with the sand directly in front of the building. Lighthouse Parquemar is 400 metres back, and the walk there runs through Parque del Molino de Agua rather than along a road.
Source: Ayuntamiento de Torrevieja, Blue Flags renewed for the 2026 season. Checked 12 September 2026. The award covers the La Mata-Sur section of the beach.
See the beach and dune photographs →A public park on the edge of La Mata, between the town and the salt lagoons behind it. Water channels and a fountain run through several hectares of palms, cedars and pines, with shaded walking and cycling paths, benches, children's playgrounds, picnic areas with grills, a historic water mill and lookout points over the flooded lagoons. Entry is free and the park is open around the clock.
Water is what gives the park its name and its character. Channels run through the grounds and a fountain sits among the planting, so there is the sound of moving water along most of the route. On a hot afternoon that, together with the shade, is the difference between a park you cross and a park you stay in.
The park is planted with palms, cedars and pines, so most of the paths stay shaded even in midsummer, which is not something every green space on this coast can offer. The mix of trees and open ground supports a range of birds and small animals, and the quieter paths are a reliable place to watch them, early in the morning in particular.
The park takes its name from the old water mill that stands inside it, the one piece of built history in an otherwise green space. At several points the park opens out towards the flooded salt lagoons behind La Mata, and those lookouts are a quiet place to take in the water and the birds on it, away from the traffic of the better known viewpoints.
From Lighthouse Dunamar the park is about 250 metres inland. From Lighthouse Parquemar it lies on the way to the beach, and the whole walk from the door to the sand is about 400 metres. Both apartments include a private garage, so the car can stay parked for the whole stay.
A lagoon of 1,400 hectares whose water carries 300 to 350 grams of salt per litre, roughly ten times the sea and in the same range as the Dead Sea. That salt is what turns it pink, and it is a working salt works as well as a protected natural park.
The colour is not a trick of the light and it is not mineral. It is alive. Dunaliella salina, a microalga, releases carotene when the water turns hypersaline. Halobacteria, salt-loving microorganisms with purple membranes, deepen the tone as the salt concentrates. Artemia salina, the brine shrimp, eats both, takes on their colour and passes it up the chain to the flamingos that eat it.
The lagoon is a state reserve and a natural park, and bathing in it, including the mud baths it was once known for, is not allowed. Two reasons: the salt works operates automated machinery below the waterline, which is dangerous in a way that is not visible from the bank, and the ecosystem is protected. Under the Valencian natural spaces law a breach carries a fine of 60 to 600 euros.
This surprises people, because older guidebooks and plenty of websites still describe the mud baths as a thing to do here. They are out of date. Come for the colour, the birds and the walk, and use the sea for swimming.
Flamingos gather here in groups that reach two thousand birds in the breeding season, alongside avocets, ringed plovers and Audouin's gulls. Bring anything that magnifies: the difference between a memorable sighting and a pink smudge is a pair of binoculars. The pink deepens as the water evaporates, so late summer into early autumn is the strongest part of the year, and high, vertical light at midday shows the colour better than the golden hour does. After winter rain the lagoon can dilute to a greyish mauve.
Sources: Patrimonio del Estado through the natural park's governing board, and reporting on the prohibition and the penalty range. Checked 12 September 2026.
See the salt lake photographs →Smaller than the beach and the lake, and the reason a week here does not run out of things to do.
Every Wednesday, 8am to 2pm
Around 160 pitches on Avenida de Francia by the Canal del Acequión, a few minutes on foot from both apartments. Fruit and vegetables sold loose by the kilo, and clothing, shoes and leather on the non food side. Bring cash, the stalls do not take cards, and street parking fills early.
On the beach, Avenida de la Sal
A coastal watchtower raised in the sixteenth century on older remains, rebuilt by the military engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli. It guarded the old salt works and the pier the salt was loaded from, which is the reason La Mata exists at all. It is protected as a Bien de Interés Cultural and stands right by the sand.
By the La Mata lagoon, 200 m off the N-332
The green lagoon is the other half of the natural park and the side with marked paths. The visitor centre explains the ecosystems and is the starting point of walking and cycling routes of 1.4 km and 5.2 km. It opens mornings and is closed on Sundays, so check the current hours before driving over.
About 8 km north, ten minutes by car
Over 800 hectares of pine, eucalyptus and palm planted from 1900 by the engineer Francisco Mira to stop the dunes burying the town, with dunes up to fifteen metres and marked trails of two to six kilometres. Walk on the boardwalks only, the dune vegetation is what holds the sand.
Local bus Line A
The beach, the park, the market and the restaurants are all walkable from both apartments, so most guests put the car in the garage on the first day. When you do want to go into Torrevieja, local bus Line A runs along the coast between La Mata and the town centre. Buses take cash.
Around 320 days of sunshine a year
August is the busy month on the sand and the one where the beach bars fill up. Late summer into early autumn is when the salt lake is at its pinkest. Spring and autumn are the comfortable months for the walking and cycling routes, and the park stays shaded even in midsummer.
Sources, checked 12 September 2026: marketsinspain.com for the market day, hours and number of pitches; Comunitat Valenciana tourism and the Spanish Wikipedia entry for the Torre de la Mata; the Lagunas de La Mata y Torrevieja natural park visitor centre for the routes and opening pattern; published guides to the Guardamar dune reforestation for the area, the planting date and the trail lengths. Opening hours and bus timetables change, so check them before you set out.
Everything on this page is within a short walk or a twenty minute drive of our two apartments in La Mata. Both include a private garage at no extra cost, and booking here goes straight to us with no platform commission added on top.