The Spanish Resorts of Pilar de la Horadada and Torre de la Horadada

Located at the southern end of the Costa Blanca and bordering with the region of Costa Calida the two lovely resorts of Pilar de la Horadada and Torre de la Horadada lie on the coast and attract visitors from all over the world. Charmed by their location, their fine Mediterranean climate and their friendly locals who always have a smile for strangers, holidaymakers arrive in their thousands especially during the hot summer months of July and August. During August in particular you will notice a huge increase in Spanish visitors as they escape the searing heat of the inland cities such as Murcia and Madrid.

While Torre de la Horadada is a relatively new resort which has mostly developed in the last 20 years due to the demand for holiday homes in the sun, Pilar de la Horadada has a long and interesting history which goes back to the Arab occupation of Sapin and beyond.

Built around an ancient watchtower which has stood there since the 14th Century, Pilar de la Horadada is the southernmost coastal resort of the Costa Blanca in Spain. To the south of Pilar de la Horadada lies the Mar Menor (‘Lesser Sea’) a huge salt water lagoon, and the Costa Calida (‘Warm Coast’) forming part of the autonomous province of Murcia. The old watchtower, similar to many others along this coastline, was built to warn residents of attacks from Berber pirates who sailed along this coast many centuries ago, and raided and pillaged the many villages that they found there. Today a popular seaside town with superb sandy beaches, Pilar de la Horadada now suffers a different kind of invader – the tourist who has different demands from the olden day pirates. Pilar de la Horadada is also a great area for nature lovers and the nearby Rio Seco (‘Dry River’), offers a wide variety of flora and fauna including some species of wild orchid and some endangered species of dwarf palms which are only found in this area.

A little north of Pilar de la Horadada is the new resort of Torre de la Horadada and here you will find mostly new development houses, purpose built for the holiday home brigade and mostly owned by British, Irish and German expats seeking an escape from the dreadful north European weather. While in Torre de la Horadada you might be forgiven for thinking that you were not in Spain at all. Next to Torre de la Horadada is the resort of Mil Palmeras another popular area with plenty of holiday homes and some beautiful luxury villas, beyond this is the Orihuela Costa and its many fine resorts such as Campoamor, Cabo Roig, La Zenia, Playa Flamenca an Punta Prima.

The author of this article on Torre de la Horadada and Pilar de La Horadada is Steve Locke who lives on the Costa Blanca in Spain. Steve writes travel articles for his local newspaper and is interested in Spanish history especially the Arab Occupation of Spain. His website contains hundreds of interesting articles about Spain including more on the resorts of Torre de la Horadada and Pilar de la Horadadaand also the nearby urbanization of Mil Palmeras.