Los Alcazares/Mar Menor (next stop off the motorway after Murcia airport) is a full day out with a wide 3-4 mile (7km) front which is kept very clean. Facing the sea there is a good selection of bars, cafes and restaurants providing everything you might want in food, drinks and entertainment. They even have a pier jutting out into the water where meals and snacks are served. The Spanish call it the Terraza sobre el Mar (Floor over the sea). We have been there several times and enjoyed eating there looking out of the smooth waters. The town is one of our favourite places to visit, and it is very popular with the Spanish themselves.
Los Alcazares “Floor Over The Sea”
Los Alcazares is on the Costa Calida (warm coast) in the Murcia region. As it is on the western shore of the Mar Menor, a saltwater lagoon separated from the Mediterranean Sea by a 22 kilometre long strip of land called La Manga, the sea tends to stay warm longer into the autumn.
In Los Alcazares/Mar Menor you can see the Spanish air force in training, taking off from Murcia, and during this time the civil aircraft side of the airport is closed.
Like many other of Spain’s resorts, bars and restaurants in Los Alcazares have been changing hands due to the recession. Fortunately these types of places do not usually stay closed up for too long, compared to some other places I know of where unemployment in the service sector has been hit hard.
The Costa Narajos hotel has special offers of 2-3 nights free as long as you buy at least 2 meals each per day from them. This is just off the beach in Los Alcazares at the southern end. If you are lucky enough to get a room here facing north then you see all of the flights coming in over the Mediterranean Sea. The airplanes turn into Murcia airport just behind the hotel, and the planes look as if they are coming into your room.
Beach Front Los Alcazares
There is an ancient spa in the town which has been restored. And if you enjoy water sports Los Alcazares won’t disappoint.
For the cyclists it is easy to hire a cycle, and you will find cycling is very popular in the town and along the front, no doubt due to the fact that Los Alcazares is very flat. For golf lovers there are a number of good golf courses in Murcia.