A Brief History Of Guardamar del Segura On The Southern Costa Blanca

The area surrounding Guardamar del Segura has been popular throughout the ages. Through the course of its history Guardamar has been able to take advantage of the natural adversities that have befallen it. Sited at the mouth of the Segura River, it has always held a key position as a guardian of the river.

As a result of this proximity to the Segura seafaring vessels were able to penetrate the mainland with relative ease. This lead to the settlements in differing degrees by Iberians, Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans and Arabs. The area of Guardamar was known by the Greeks as Alone.

The name Guardamar (Guard-a-mar) roughly translates as Guardian of the Sea. It's strategic location ensured that it became the site of ancient fortifications, and an important lookout point. However in 1829 a terrible earthquake destroyed the old walled city and the castle at its centre, compelling its surviving inhabitants to search for a new location nearer the shore.

This in itself posed major problems, created by the advancing sands of the coastal dunes. At the end of the 19th century a solution was found to prevent the so called "flying sands" from burying the town. The resolution was to take 30 years to complete (1900-1930) and came in the form of the planting of a forest along the dunes. This had the desired result and the advancing sands halted.

This forest now forms part of the "Dunas De Guardamar" (left) and covers an area of 840 hectares. It consists of pines, palms, cypresses and eucalyptus trees and has now become know as "La Pinada" which has been declared an area of natural interest.

La Pinada and the surrounding area is not only home to many varieties of trees but there are a great variety of natural plants birds and animals including red squirrels and black swans. It is a wonderful place for an afternoon stroll to admire the beauty of the natural landscape.

Guardamar del Segura has 14 kilometres of beaches with fine, golden sands. It has eight beaches in total ranging from the cosmopolitan blue flag beaches to those remaining in their natural state it even has a naturist beach.

From north to south, the beaches of Guardamar are Los Tusales (the naturist beach), Los Viveros (Left), De la Babilònia, Playa Centro, La Roqueta, El Monacayo, Playa del Campo and Les Ortigues.

One thing they all have in common though is their high quality sand, their length and the background of dunes planted with pines and palm trees. The beaches in Guardamar are beautiful and they have plenty of room for everyone.

Most of Guardamar's ancient remains have been long since lost, however an element has been preserved. There is an important archaeological site at the remains of the medieval castle. Dating back to between the 9th and 10th centuries this castle is unique to the west and has been declared of cultural interest.

On the Iberian site of Cabezó Lucero an important archaeological discovery was made when a bust of a woman was unearthed.

The bust, now called the "Dame of Guardamar", is similar to the famous "Dame of Elche" also found in this region of the southern Costa Blanca.

Another important archaeological site from the Arab times is the mosque of the Caliphate Rabita. In addition the centrally located Casa de Cultura (House of Culture) houses many artefacts explaining much of Guardamar del Segura's interesting history.