Pilar de la Horadada is the Costa Blanca southern resort beside the Mediterranean Sea. Located in the beautiful Vega Baja area of the Alicante province .
In the south starts the border with the region of Murcia.
The town is the administrative capital of places as Pinar de Campoverde, Torre de la Horadada, Mil Palmeras en El Mojon.
Climate
The climate is warm and sunny. A climate to make you happy.
All in all the town is placed between the sea and the mountains and has a typical Mediterranean climate. A marvelous sunny climate with nearly no rainfall.
About the town
Pilar de Horadada is a world away from the party all night image of the Costa Blanca No sky capers. No disco’s.
Instead kilometers of coastline with a diversity of beaches.
The town itself is a mixture of old and modern. It is just inland. While it is connected with the beaches by a boulevard with cycling path and jogging lanes.
In the heart is “the Plaza de la Iglesia”. There you can find the church, the town hall and the tourist office.
In the nearby “Casa de Cultural” are often temporary exhibitions. In the summer season , the cultural center is also the place to be for English spoken films.
At the urbanization you can find a leisure / harbor , a plaza with restaurants and bars.
Interesting in the bars and restaurants are the menus of the day. You can still eat ” el menu del dia ” at 10 euro. A starter, a main course , a dessert and salad breath and a drink include.
Every Friday there is a street market .
History of Pilar de la Horadada
History remount to the Iberian days during the Roman period.
Pilar de la Horadada was strategical placed on the ” Via Augusta”. In the first place this Via Augusta was a trading route . Pilar de la Horadada was one of the places where the soldiers and travelers could rest and relax.
This Via Augusta was the main route between Elche and Cartagena. In the past the two most important Roman cities of Spain.
In the late 16th century watchtowers were built all over the coast in Spain.
This watchtowers were built to depend the coast against the pirates. And the remains of the watchtowers can be seen i many towns along the Mediterranean coast.
But the “Torre de la Horadada ” is one of the best preserved.
The south-eastern route of the ” Camino de Santiago ” starts also from this point.
Now , you can still go to the tourist information to have your stamp.
In the past, the town has been the fields of many battles. Because of its location at the frontier between two kingdoms. Now they are autonomic regions. Then they were two kingdoms : the Kingdom of Valencia and the Kingdom of Murcia.
After centuries of agricultural economy, its tourism started in the middle of the 80.
Cuisine
Because the Vega Baja is known as Spain garden with fruit and vegetables, Pilar de la Horadada is the place to eat good.
When you add the fish and the seafood, then you understand that there are proud on their gastronomic routes and culinary feast.
Also the “tapas routes” are very popular by the tourists.
Beaches
The beaches of Pilar de Horada are long with fine and white and.
The most beaches are safe places and swimming is permitted.
The quality of these beaches is rewarded with the ” Blue Flags “.
One of the most popular beaches is the one of Mil Palmeras. It is a beach who is attractive in very busy summer as in winter. In the winter on the beach there are free outdoor activities from September to May on Sunday .
The activities are for children but also for adults. Yoga , Zumba , Pilates…
I do not know a better place than on a sunny beach with the Mediterranean Sea next to you. A dream come true.
Coastal walks
The beach of Mil Palmeras is the start for a very nice walk. So if you enjoy the view and the fresh air of the Mediterranean Sea Pilar de la Horadada is the ideal start of a walk along this coastline.
The coastline offers a range of landscapes, dunes, beaches, beach promenades with palm trees.
also a good thing is that there is a large free parking at the beach op Mil Palmeras.
In the summer season the parking is a charity parking , so volunteers ask you one euro a day for the parking. The money goes to different charity organisations .
So we did make this walk several times, and we enjoyed every time because the color and the view of the sea is changing every time. Of course we did stop for a drink and a snack en route.
There are several beach bars in summer and two in the winter.
Pinar de Campoverder Rio Seco walking route
This walk follows the Rio Seco. It is a nature trails which follows the riverbed which is normally dry.
In December 2016 this Rio Seco as not dry, it was a river because of the heavy rainstorms.
So the walk goes to Pinar de Campoverde, a residential area surrounded by pine forest .
Count 2 hours for this 8 kilometers.
While walking you go into a gorge with strange rock formations carved out of the sandstone by the river. This area is the home for a lot of native animals and plants.
You can chose the 4 kilometers walk or the 10 kilometers walk.
Both start at the same place. The start is at the visitors center. This center is open in the weekends.
At the Tourist information office in the Town hall you can also find information.
As you can see, the riverbed is eroded at some places with strange beautiful rock formations.
South of Pilar is San Pedro del Pinitar. You can walk or cycle along the seafront promenade to this coastline.
Indeed this coastline is one of fine sandy beaches and sand dunes.
Surrounding of Pilar de la Horadada
There are many places nearby worth a visit. You can drive to the inland sea of the Mar Menor or to the Roman arena of Cartagena or to the historic center of Orihuela.
Besides the Murcia region is nearby , why not visit Murcia city ?
To conclude, Pilar de Horadada is great to visit any time of the year.The town has everything you can want for a holiday.
To sum up : sunny weather , a very beautiful seafront and excellent restaurants.