What you can see on the Torrevieja webcams
Four live cameras, all run by a local weather project, cover the town's seafront from south to north. One looks over Playa del Cura, the central beach, with its palm-lined promenade; another over the curving cove of Los Locos; a third, from high up, along the long, straight beach of La Mata towards Guardamar; and the last over the marina and its breakwater. Together they show how crowded the beaches are, how the sea is behaving and what the sky is doing across the whole town.
Torrevieja beach webcam: Playa del Cura
A wide-angle camera above the seafront takes in the whole of Playa del Cura, Torrevieja's central beach: the palm-lined promenade along the bottom of the picture, the curve of sand and the sea filling the middle, with buildings on the point to the left and the seafront blocks on the right.
Because it is live video and the beach is right in the town centre, it is the best of the Torrevieja cameras for judging crowds: in high summer the sand is covered in parasols by late morning, while on winter days you will mostly see walkers on the promenade. It is also a quick way to check the sea before you leave the apartment.
Torrevieja beach webcam: Los Locos
This live camera looks out over Los Locos, the sheltered cove a short walk north of the town centre, from among the palm trees above its promenade. The beach curves in a neat arc below, with the promenade railing on the right and a low rocky point, topped by a building, closing the cove on the left. Beyond is open sea and, on clear days, the outline of the mountains far up the coast.
A surf school works from this beach, and when an easterly swell arrives you can watch lines of small waves rolling into the cove. On calm mornings the water is flat and glassy, lit by the sun rising over the sea.
Torrevieja beach webcam: La Mata
From high above La Mata, at the northern end of Torrevieja, this live camera looks up the coast along the long, straight beach that runs towards Guardamar. Low-rise houses, gardens and street lights fill the foreground, while the sand and the sea stretch away into the distance on the right.
On clear days the mountains behind Santa Pola and Alicante line the horizon. It is a big-sky view: good for checking the wind and the waves, for seeing whether the morning haze has lifted, and for the evening, when the street lights come on along the seafront and the last light catches the hills.
Torrevieja harbour webcam
Looking down over the harbour from the Paseo del Mar side of town, this live camera shows the marina basin packed with masts, the long breakwater that shelters it and, in the foreground, a small beach and a palm-lined promenade, with a tall pine on the right.
It is the one Torrevieja camera without a big stretch of beach, but the most useful for boat owners and for anyone planning a walk out along the breakwater: you can see whether the water inside the harbour is calm, what the sky is doing over the town and how the light changes on the water towards sunset.
A town built on salt
Torrevieja grew up around its salt works, and salt is still harvested from the lagoon behind the town. The lagoons of La Mata and Torrevieja form a natural park, and the larger one often turns pink in summer, coloured by tiny salt-loving algae and bacteria; flamingos come to feed in the shallows. The town also has a long musical tradition of habaneras, songs brought back by sailors from Cuba, celebrated every summer with an international choral contest.
When to watch Torrevieja
Torrevieja is one hour ahead of the UK. The coast faces east, so the sun rises over the sea: early morning is the time to catch a sunrise on the beach cameras, while in the evening the La Mata camera looks along the coast towards the hills as the light fades. It is one of the driest corners of Spain, with plenty of winter sun. The sea is around 14 °C in late winter and 26 °C or more in August.
Around Torrevieja
North of La Mata lie the dunes and pine woods of Guardamar. To the south, the beaches of Orihuela Costa run on towards the Mar Menor. Inland, the salt lagoons have walking and cycling paths and viewpoints over the pink water.
Visiting Torrevieja
Alicante airport is about 30 miles (50 km) away and Murcia's airport a little further. The town beaches have lifeguards in season and fill up early in July and August; La Mata, being longer, always has more room. A walk out along the marina breakwater at sunset is a local favourite.
