The Red Lake of Torrevieja

I felt like I had landed on another planet. It’s no joke. The Laguna Torrevieja feels like an alien world, one where the blue seas have been replaced by a mysterious red ocean with strange shapes and patterns forming in hues of yellow and white around its edges.

Having parked at the lakeside edge of the urbanisation of San Luis, it was easy to find a track down to the water. The closer I got, the stranger it felt. I had always thought the reddish glow seen from afar was an optical illusion that would dissipate with proximity. How wrong I was. If anything, it intensified.

As I made my way towards the northern edge of the lake I was mesmerised by the patterns emerging at the edge of the water as the salt crystallised in the sun. I’m not sure exactly what I had expected to see but the feast of colour in front of me was truly hypnotic. The salt is thick enough to walk on for a few metres but it is easy to see the water underneath so I didn’t venture any further from the shore. The only disappointment was that the flamingos kept their distance.

A causeway juts out into the lake. This goes all the way to the salt mountains at the southern end. You can walk out a short way but soon enough locked gates prevent any further progress. Along the way there are a couple of supermarket trollies which have been dumped in the water. Pollution it may be, and an eyesore to many, but they make a curious photographic subject.

Away from the lake I returned to San Luis along the via verde. The old railway line has been turned into a footpath which is 7km in length if you walk all the way into Torrevieja. It provided a great platform for views over the surrounding countryside.

Enjoy my photos, sure, but make sure you add this to your list of things to do if you are in the area. You will not be disappointed.