Do you fancy a walk somewhere different? Just outside Santa Pola, you will find the Salinas Natural Park, a fascinating area covering nearly 2,500 hectares.
It stretches across the towns of Santa Pola and Elche (specifically La Marina), and it is full of salt flats, shallow lagoons, marshes, sandy beaches, and dunes.
This landscape was once part of a vast lagoon formed where the Vinalopó River meets the sea. The river still flows into this spot, though not as strongly as it once did. In 1988, the area was named a protected natural site, and by 1994, it officially became a natural park. It’s also internationally recognised for its importance to birdlife, listed under the RAMSAR Convention and classed as a Special Protection Area for birds.
A walk through Salinas Natural Park
The park is made up of three main natural zones: salt marshes, reed beds, and coastal dunes. The salt marshes are the most common here. These are harsh places for plants to grow due to the high salt levels in the ground, but they are home to some tough species like salicornias, sodas, and alcolechas. Among these, you can spot Limonium santapolense, a rare plant that only grows around Alicante.
In areas with more water and less salt, you’ll find reed beds. These grow along canals, ditches, and spots where water collects year-round. Then there’s the dune vegetation, which lines the beach from El Pinet to La Albufera, forming a natural border with the sea.
Flamingos are the star attraction here, sometimes over 8,000 gather in the
park. But they are not alone. Keep your eyes open for avocets, black-winged stilts, ducks, and many other birds that stop here to feed and rest.
If you want to learn more, the park has a visitor centre just off the N-332 road at kilometre 87.4. It includes a small salt museum, which explains how salt has been harvested in the area for generations.
