San Pedro del Pinatar, with about 30,000 inhabitants, is the northernmost coastal municipality of the Region of Murcia, at the northern end of the Mar Menor, the large salt lagoon separated from the Mediterranean by the thin strip of La Manga. It is very popular in summer with Spanish families and many foreign residents.
The Salt Pans park
The Salinas y Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar regional park includes working salt pans, lagoons, dunes and pine woods between the Mar Menor and the Mediterranean. It is one of Spain's best places to see pink flamingos, plus avocets, black-winged stilts and other waterbirds. Explore it on foot and cycle paths, with a visitor centre.
Mud and beaches
- Lo Pagán, the seaside district, is famous for the Mar Menor mud: along the Charcas de Lo Pagán promenade people coat themselves in black, mineral-rich mud and let it dry in the sun before rinsing off in the lagoon, for the benefit of skin and joints.
- The Molinos walkway, a long boardwalk between the salt pans and the Mar Menor, with two old windmills.
- The Mar Menor beaches, with shallow, calm water, ideal for children.
- The Mediterranean beaches, such as Playa de la Llana and Torre Derribada, with dunes.
The Mar Menor crisis
In recent years the Mar Menor has suffered serious pollution and fish die-offs, linked to intensive farming and urban development. In 2022 Spain granted the lagoon legal personhood, a first in Europe, to protect it. Water quality varies: check before swimming.
Food and festivals
Caldero del Mar Menor, rice cooked in rockfish broth with alioli, grey mullet and its roe, Mar Menor prawns and fresh fish from the port. The patron saint festivities of San Pedro are in late June, with the sea procession of the Virgen del Carmen in July.
Getting there
Región de Murcia airport is about 40 km away, Alicante's about 70 km. Buses run from Murcia, Cartagena and Alicante. See also Torrevieja.