Spain – Santa Pola (En)
We had no idea a place called Santa Pola existed until our friends Gaby and Ralf told us we should go. We planned to go to Elche, but I looked up Santa Pola and saw it had a large parking area. We decided to go there instead of Elche. Santa Pola is a fishing village very close to Elche, with a castle, museums, and free aquariums—and there are flamingos! We loved it.
Where to stay
We stayed in the free parking lot next to the large market (38.196013, -0.563155 latitude, longitude), beside McDonald’s. There are no facilities there, but there are trash cans on the street and restrooms inside McDonald’s. The parking lot is huge, so there’s always space, and it’s quite flat. We stayed two days without any problems. It’s safe because there are many other campervans there, and it’s quiet enough to sleep at night. Next to the parking lot, they hold a huge market on Mondays and Saturdays. If you can, go and visit it. It’s also close to Lidl, and you can walk to all the main sights. I recommend it for visiting this beautiful town.
What to see
Since we arrived on Monday, the first thing we did was go to the market. It’s a huge market that sells everything: clothes, utensils, souvenirs, food, etc. It even has a bar with stools, and things are incredibly cheap. You can find clothes for 1 euro! We bought several things: adorable keychains for 1 euro each, a cutting board, and an oyster knife.
Very close to the market is the tourist office, where we asked what to see in town. The employee was very friendly and told us that all the museums and the aquarium were free, but that they were closed because it was Monday. He recommended going to the port, where they held a fish and seafood auction for professionals, which was really cool to watch, and there was a place where they sold to individuals. He also told us that very close to the parking lot are the Salt Museum and the Salinas Natural Park, where there are flamingos year-round. We decided to go to the latter the next day.
Following the recommendation we received at the tourist office, we first went to see the Castle-Fortress, located in the Glorieta Square and built in the 16th century in the Renaissance style. Inside are the Maritime Museum and the Fishing Museum, both closed. In the centre of the courtyard is the coat of arms of Santa Pola.
From there, we went to the port, saw some fishermen, and asked them where the fish auction was being held. They told us it wasn’t happening because they were on strike due to the European Union’s decision to shorten fishing hours. When I asked where they were selling fish, they said it was closed because they hadn’t gone fishing due to the strike. So we missed out on seeing any of that. While we were talking to them, we took some pictures of the port. When we left and were on the other side of the port, Ben realised he lost his phone. At that moment, I got a call on my cell phone; it was one of the fishermen, saying that Ben had left his phone at the top of his fishing net. When I was talking to the man who had called, he was laughing his head off at the sight of Ben running around like a madman. Ben got his phone back, and the fisherman got a big hug.
After the scare with the phone, we decided to go for a drink at a bar we’d seen on the beach. They had typical tapas like snails in sauce and fried prawns. We decided to try the fried prawns because we’d never had them before. Ben really liked them. I prefer them boiled and peeled. While we were at the bar, a TV presenter interviewed the owner about how the fishermen’s strike was affecting local businesses. The owner said it was affecting them quite a bit because they didn’t have the local products to offer and had to change the menu.
The next day, we went to see the Salt Museum in the Salinas Natural Park, where we saw lots of flamingos.
We left Santa Pola with the idea of returning another time to see the museums and the aquarium. And we went to Benidorm, a popular holiday destination known for its nightlife, which you can see in the next blog post.
