San Pedro del Pinatar: salt pans, Mar Menor
- Driving time
- About 15 minutes by car
- Area
- Mar Menor
- Town
San Pedro del Pinatar is at the northern end of the Mar Menor, between the lagoon and the Mediterranean, next to a nature park with salt pans. It is about a 15 minute drive from Lago Rosa Apartment.
The Parque Regional Salinas y Arenales is the reason to drive here. It covers 856 hectares with 6 kilometres of coast, the salt pans are still in use and more than a hundred bird species visit, flamingos first among them. Start at the Centro de Visitantes Las Salinas on Avenida del Puerto, where they explain the walking and cycling routes.
At Lo Pagán you can walk the La Mota route between the Mar Menor and the salt ponds, past windmills and dunes. This is also where you find the well-known mud pools, which people have long used to coat themselves. The park's rule is simple: rinse the mud off in the same pool where you applied it.
You can swim in two seas. On the Mar Menor side are La Mota, La Puntica and Villananitos, on the Mediterranean side La Llana, Torre Derribada and El Mojón. La Llana lies within the park and feels the least built up.
Early to the harbour
At the harbour fish market the day's catch is sold as the boats come in. Go early, then order a caldero, the rice dish of this coast.
Markets
Monday morning in San Pedro on Avenida del Pilar, Thursday morning in Lo Pagán on Avenida Salzillo. In July and August on Tuesday morning in El Mojón.
To take home
Fleur de sel from the salt pans, and dried and salted fish.
Frequently asked questions
Why do people go into the mud at Lo Pagán?
The pools by the salt pans are an old custom: people coat themselves and let the mud dry. We make no medical claims here, and you rinse off in the same pool.
Can you see flamingos in San Pedro del Pinatar?
Often, as the park is an important resting and breeding area for more than a hundred bird species, though nature gives no guarantees.
What day is the market?
Monday morning in San Pedro and Thursday morning in Lo Pagán.
