Guardamar del Segura is a town that throughout the history has been able to take beauty out of the natural adversities that have shaken it.
Its location next to the mouth of the Segura River has been the key. The Greek Alone was the scene of the Iberian culture as can be seen in the Cabezo Lucero site where the Lady of Guardamar was found, or of the Muslim culture that had a Rábita (Muslim religious building) in the area that now occupies the dunes in the east side of the city.
All these historical vestiges are conserved and explained in the Archaeological and Ethnological Museum located in the House of Culture. The old location of Guardamar was situated in the walled city whose center was the castle that you can still seeing nowadays. The earthquake of 1829 destroyed this site completely forcing the inhabitants of Guardamar to change the site to the current one, closer to the coast and with an anti-seismic urban design.
At the end of the 19th century, the new location was in serious danger of being buried by masses of sand that progressed periodically. The problem was tackled by planting rows of pines that managed to fix this progress, contributing to the singular beauty of the forest and sand combination in Guardamar del Segura. Today the whole area is an enormous Forest Park known as the "Dunas de Guardamar" declared a Natural Interest Area.
We recommend you to go for a walk and admire the Reina Sofía Park that allows you to see a magnificent set of native flora and fauna. It is a beautifully designed space with lakes, waterfalls and paths. The fine sand forms the magnificent beaches that cover the coastline of Guardamar. The most cosmopolitan ones are the Centro beach or the Roqueta beach, although there are also virgin beaches such as the Moncayo beach or Los Tusales beach, next to the mouth of the Segura River. All of them are perfectly equipped for public use.