Santa Pola salt flats
- Driving time
- About 35 minutes by car
- Area
- Baix Vinalopó
- Sight
The Salinas de Santa Pola are a nature park of salt pans on the bay of Santa Pola, famous for flamingos, and they are about a 35 minute drive from Lago Rosa Apartment.
Drive along the N-332 towards Alicante and you cannot miss them: huge shallow flats, with a lone watchtower standing in the water. The Torre Tamarit dates from the sixteenth century and guarded the salt pans that mattered so much to the town.
The park covers 2,470 hectares and is on the Ramsar list of wetlands of international importance. The present salt works, such as Braç del Port and Bonmatí, were laid out in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and still shape the landscape. The region calls it an example of how industry and nature can coexist. At times up to 8,000 flamingos stay here, alongside avocets, black-winged stilts, shelducks, herons and Montagu's harriers. The rare fartet fish lives here too.
Our tip: start at the museum
The Museo de la Sal at Avenida de Zaragoza 45 in Santa Pola is also the park's address. There you can get information and ask what is around at the moment.
Bring binoculars
You will often be watching the birds from a distance. In migration periods there can be thousands.
Combine it
Río Safari is in the same corner, between Elche and Santa Pola, and boats to Tabarca also leave from Santa Pola.
Frequently asked questions
How many flamingos are there at Santa Pola?
The region mentions concentrations of up to 8,000 flamingos. How many you see depends heavily on the season.
What is the tower in the water?
The Torre Tamarit, a 16th-century watchtower that guarded the salt pans.
