Much has been said about Torrevieja in the not to distant past, much of which was not at all complimentary. It is certainly true that if you are searching for a quaint, pretty Spanish fishing village, you will not find it there, not much of the old parts of Torrevieja still remains, mainly because it was once flattened by an earthquake in early 1829 and virtually destroyed. Also in recent times many 3 or 4 storey apartment complexes were built on each square metre of available land.

The amazing population rise of very recent times and all the capital that has flooded in has now enabled the regional government to make some good improvements to the resort. The seafront and esplanade have been re-vamped, roads paved and pedestrianised along with loads of other cosmetic projects.

There are still plenty of nice Spanish restaurants offering good fare at a reasonable cost, along side them, the usual UK and USA fast food chains in the town. In other local complexes and communities you will find fine restaurants and nice bars representing every country possible, in fact some places appear to have a pub, Irish bar or Chinese on every street corner. Torrevieja beaches are quite small, but further north or south there are lots of first class beaches, some quite busy, but others are very peaceful. The local shopping is much better than ever with local commercial centres opening all over the place and many actually remain open all the day now! The Torrevieja street markets appear to get larger all the time and are certainly worth a visit to search out a few bargains.

The surrounding districts have large UK, Irish, Swedish and German populations, I think that Torrevieja still retains that certain Spanish "feel". Try going for a wander along the promenade late on a Friday and Saturday night and you can still see entire families strolling and chatting together or even halting for a tasty ice cream or tipple, even at 12pm, now you cannot do that in any British town can you, without dodging hordes of drunken yobs. Car parking is still a big problem during the peak season, but as the local population almost quadruples in august, it is probably not that surprising. A new yacht marina is being constructed in the port area to extend the large number of boat berths already found there. The police and Guardia presence has been dramatically increased and is highly visible which can be very reassuring.

The Torrevieja weather and climate is excellent, with very few rainy days each year and 320 + days of sun. To sum it up, I can envisage Torrevieja quickly becoming a major player in the tourist industry over the next few decades.

For lots more advice, help and tourism information about Torrevieja please visit Torrevieja