Visit Parque Natural de la Mata in Torrevieja

One of our pet owners lives in the beautiful thriving town of La Mata in Torrevieja. In this blog she shares her love of the Parque Natural de la Mata which is a wonderful draw for many people to this coastal town with clean sandy beaches. Read on to learn her top tips.

Parque Natural de la Mata in Torrevieja – Worth a Visit

Parque Natural de Mata pink lake with salt structure — The Lake in the Parque Natural de la Mata is used for salt production

Photo by Jesus Granero

History of the Lagoon

La Mata lagoon was used as early as the C14 when the Crown gave it and Torrevieja lake to Orihuela to develop a possible fishing industry, but the idea never took off as the water was too salty even for the fish. In the C18 the State took the lake over and that’s when the salt industry was born. Eventually salt extraction moved to Torrevieja lake.

The land known as the Parque Natural de la Mata y Torrevieja belongs to the state, and parts of it are rented to vineyard owners. In 1988, it was declared a protected area and a year later declared a National Game Reserve. In 1995 it became a Parque Natural. It is the southernmost nature park in Valencia province and covers an area of 3700 hectares, 2100 of which are water.

It is important for its vines, its salt, its bird population, its vegetation, and its tourist attractions which include regular educational talks and accompanied walks.

Vegetation

The park vegetation is either natural or cultivated vines, which have withstood plagues due to the salinity of the air and soil. The vines are irrigated naturally by rain and dew, and the grapes are either made into vinegar or wine. A recent project focussed on developing a quality white wine, supervised by an expert.

Salt production in the Parque Natural de la Mata

The water of the lake – a salt lagoon- enters through a canal leading from the sea through the park, propelled by gravity is controlled by a lock. It is important to keep the balance of salt and water level correct. Fish and shellfish enter in this canal. Salt water is then pumped underground from La Mata lake into Torrevieja lake, where the salt sinks to the bottom of the water and becomes solid blocks which are extracted and washed at least three times to remove all mud.

These blocks are cut and lifted with special tools onto a conveyor belt to the harbour. From there they are transported to northern Europe and worldwide. Torrevieja lake is the second largest salt producing lake in the world.

The salt is used in households for cooking, in the construction industry for roads and in the chemical industry. The area around the lake was divided into strips of land, like allotments, and watch towers stood to prevent thieves from stealing the highly sought-after salt.

A Glimpse into Our Homeowner’s Day in La Mata

8:15am – I am walking around the Parque Natural de la Mata, listening to early birdsong and admiring pastel shaded spring flowers. The air carries the scent of pine. In the morning light I can see badger trails, and I watch the water rushing along the narrow canal from the sea into the salt lake, fish dancing and shimmering just beneath the surface. At my approach, a kingfisher darts into her nest on the bank.

When I reach the bridge, a group of sturdy Eucalyptus trees provides shade and I stand under one for a moment out of the direct heat. After a sip from my water bottle I amble along the walkway to a nearby hide to look at the lake.

A garden bursting with colour and wildlife

Sandpipers scurry along the shore in search of food, while a colony of ungainly flamingos dip their necks like a hundred miniature crane booms, scooping up millions of tiny artemia organisms into their crooked bills. A lizard dashes in front of me as I approach the vineyard area in the Parque Natural de la Mata.

As well as the vines, there are fig trees, vegetable plots, and huge aloe cacti whose rings of yellow flowers at their edges look like the gold-studded earlobes of a green giant. I breathe in the heady scent, now of lavender and rosemary; wild barley sways in a sudden cooling breeze, purple ‘viper’s tongue’ plants snake their way across the sandy track, and shy rare orchids hide in the scrubland to my side.

And then to the beach

I cross the road and head for the beach in La Mata. The sun has already warmed the air. Eight kilometres of uninterrupted pale golden sand stretch ahead of me. Waves caress the spaces in between my toes, nothing but paw prints and bird tracks lie in front of me, and behind me, esparto grass sticks up awkwardly like an adolescent boy’s first stubble.

I turn towards the dunes. As my feet sink into the soft sand, a Woodchat Shrike with chestnut brown, black and white feathers startles me as it flaps cheekily across my path. I soon reach the end of a street, lined with scarlet, golden and damask pink bougainvillaea, and bright orange geraniums.

It’s a Wednesday – Market day

Crowds amble past stalls offering flowers, plants, cured hams, vegetables, clothing and footwear. I buy a week’s fruit and vegetables for fifteen euro before approaching the main street. The smell of cigarettes, brandy and coffee emanates from tiny bars; shouts and chatter burst like machine-gunfire above the rustling of newspaper pages being turned. I inhale the aroma of tobacco from the estanco, of musty wine from a bodega, and of mouth-watering freshly baked bread from the panadería.

9:30am – I can’t resist this enticing mix and sit at a roadside table for a café con leche and a tostado con tomate. From my vantage point I can see the local butcher, fishmonger, greengrocer and newsagent.

Town smells give way to jasmine, privet and stephanotis on my way to the Watermill Park where I pass old folk resting on the benches, watching children sail boats on the man-made lake; a soothing waterfall gently tumbling from one end provides a light current.

I reach the boardwalk, the pulse of the village, where every day inhabitants and visitors promenade up and down its length, from the oriental-looking bar at the southern end, past a dozen beach bar/restaurants and shops, to the main square with its Virgen del Rosario church. It finishes at a spot where upturned fishing boats rest among the bright red and white plastic tables and chairs of a beach café.

Today is a Fiesta Day

Firecrackers rend the air, destroying the peace of the early evening and rousing us all from our siestas. A procession starts from in front of the church, the devout rocking from side to side under the weight of the holy statue they are bearing aloft. A coach deposits a group of jubilados – retired people returning from a day excursion. They are bubbling with fun and laughter, looking forward to being home for the evening festivities.

Bands parade the streets where tables have been set up for thirst quenching beers and hunger appeasing tapas, including a giant paella being prepared on a trestle table, while decorated horses give rides around the sports court to children in their best party clothes.

Flamenco guitars

Later, just as I was planning on going to bed, the unmistakeable sound of flamenco guitars, wailing voices and the intoxicating rhythm of drums draws me outside to watch dancers tapping and clacking and thumping and whirling.

I sit on my terrace looking down at the main square, where people are still milling around at two in the morning, carrying tired children, pushing prams, still chattering and clattering and laughing as they wend their way home through the narrow streets .

A heavy full moon silhouettes tiny boats on a sparkling sea; the lights of large ships are strung out along the distant horizon, whilst on the embarcadero with its round watch tower, revellers are still dancing, drinking and laughing on the same place where Romans once disembarked after sailing from their homeland across the Mediterranean.

Not every day is a fiesta or market day, but otherwise, it’s been a typical day of village life.

Other activities centred in La Mata

La Mata was once a centre for soap production, as the plants around the lake are particularly useful for their tolerance of highly saline soil. Esparto grass also used to be cut and used to make baskets and sandals.

grasses around the lake at parque natural de la mata — The plants around the lake are particularly tolerant of highly saline soil

Photo by Jose Lizcano Sarria

Birds and fauna

A large number of ducks take refuge in the Parque Natural during the hunting season, and it is an important resting place for migratory birds. There is a variety of terrain such as marsh zones, reeds and rushes, and woodlands, which means a range of habitats for the birds, of which there are over 100 species, including avocets, black-winged stilts, terns, gulls and grebes.

Flamingos are frequent visitors, and kestrels, cormorants, herons and ospreys can be seen. There is a picnic area known as the Pinada where from time to time we can see badgers, lizards, squirrels, snakes, and further varieties of birds including hoopoe, fly catchers and woodpeckers.

a gathering of four flamingos gathered at the lake — Flamingos frequently gather at the lake

Photo by Sharisse Bullock

One source of food which is of particular interest is the artemis salina, a tiny crustacean on which numerous birds feed, including flamingos, which scoop up volumes of them when they stoop to immerse their beaks. A further food source is the larva of the chiromoid mosquito.

Flora and trees

Aleppo pine trees and other pines provide shade in the hot summer months, as well as eucalyptus. Esparto grass and iris, wild gladioli, marigolds, daisies and poppies can all be seen in Spring, visited by swallowtail and marbled white butterflies. The dangerous processionary caterpillars also make a regular annual appearance and we have to be careful to watch out for them when walking with our dogs and little children.

salt lake in a pink twilight — The Lake is beautiful at sunrise and sunset

Photo by Sara Garrido Paramas

Activities in the Parque Natural de la Mata

There are two main walking routes: one of them is enhanced with hides for birdwatchers and a picnic area for visitors, and the other is a cycle route which rises to the dovecotes on top of a gentle hill.

The cycle track is some distance from the edge of the lake so as not to disturb the water fowl. An information and research centre at the park entrance has display boards about the park, a model artemis salina, and photographs of some of the birds to be seen. Various ecological and educational projects and activities are organised from here, including re-introduction of certain species and monitoring of others.

Final thoughts on things to see at the Parque Natural de la Mata

One of the major attractions when you visit La Mata, is las Lagunas de la Mata. It is also called Parque Natural de Torrevieja and is well worth a visit to see the flora and fauna, and enjoy the beautiful lake and scenery and all the attractions nearby.

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