Introducing....Torre del Mar

On my morning walk today, I took loads of photos and decided that I would do a post of our local town as it is a really attractive place, I thought people might like to see it.  I sometimes wonder if when some people think of the Costa del Sol, so they visualise drunk tourists, British fish and chip shops and noisy discos!  Fortunately Torre del Mar is not a bit like that!

Torre del Mar is our nearest town and is situated 28km east of Malaga on the coast.  It has a population of approx 20,000 and is a very popular holiday resort with Spanish people.  It has the name Torre del Mar (tower of the sea) because it had many watchtowers along the coast during Roman and Moorish times. Today it has a 26m high lighthouse situated on the edge of the promenade.  During the 19th century, the area was the centre of the sugar industry whereas nowadays they grow mangoes, avocados, kiwis and salad crops, because of the  tropical climate.

The most outstanding feature is its sea front, which is about 2km long, and is apparently considered the longest in the Mediterranean! The beach is very wide, more than 50 meters in many places.  The whole promenade is planted with flowers and palm trees, making it a very attractive area to stroll along at any time of year.  This promenade is also lined with lots of seafood restaurants or chiringuitos as they are called here.  The photo below was taken at approx 9am this morning.

The town is busy and has LOADS of small shops, but this post is really just to show you the promenade area which is also very popular with joggers, people walking their dogs (as dogs are not allowed on the beach except for the 'dog beach') and cyclists who have their own cycle paths.

Most people start at one end of the prom and continue walking along to the busy fishing port of Caleta de Velez and then walk back to their original starting point, a distance of about 7km.  This is what Lucy, my Miniature Pinscher and I do when we choose this route for our morning walk.  We can watch the sunrise from our starting point, there are some beautiful sunrises seen from here.  Here is this mornings:

The temperature when we set out was a quite chilly 8C, but it soon warmed up and by the time we got to the end of our route it was 20C.....and that was at 10am!  It's why we have to set out earlyish as I don't want Lucy getting overheated.

All along the route there are different beach areas, special beaches allocated for different groups of people, or different activities.  The seniors beach has wooden gazebos with  picnic benches where older folk can be seen sitting chatting or playing dominoes!  Of course this time of the morning it's pretty empty except for a few people using the gym equipment on the seniors beach.

There are several areas with play equipment especially for children....

There is even a 'Biblio Playa' which means 'book beach' and you can see below the lovely wooden benches and armchair where I suspect local teachers bring groups of their pupils for reading...what a lovely environment to have a reading class!!

And safety too is big here.....there are First Aid and lifeguard stations all along the beach, including this one, which would be hard to miss!!!

All the way along the prom there are examples of local art.  What would normally be the plain back walls of the fishermens buildings, are covered with art!

Here are some examples, some are laminated, whilst others are made from ceramic tiles: (unfortunately because of the laminate there is a lot of reflection!)

I guess you can't have art without a contribution from probably the most famous Malagueño, Pablo Picasso....a ceramic tile version of his famous painting Guernica.

Even the public bathrooms are attractively decorated, and although I haven't got photos here, take my word for it, they are incredibly clean!!

These two below were taken a different day.....I missed them this morning!!! Must have been half asleep :)

Plus statues and fountains:

The fountain below is either new or having a makeover, you can see the workmen are still working on it,  the star shaped pool is completely tiled in tiny mosaic tiles!

This fountain is dedicated to the Virgen of Carmen, who is the patron saint of the town, and also the patron saint of mariners and seafarers!

 Also along the promenade is the lighthouse mentioned above, as well as the bandstand where they often have live music in the summertime!

Finally at the very easterly end of the promenade, so the town of Torre del Mar joins the area of Caleta de Velez where there is a busy fishing port and marina....

It is when we reach this point that we turn back and do the whole walk in reverse!

"Yes Lucy, we only have to walk back to about here.........!!!!!"

 
Well I hope you have enjoyed our little walk along the promenade at Torre del Mar!!

Thanks very much for visiting, have a lovely weekend!

Hugs Sharon x