Laguna Rosa (Pink Lake)

Laguna Rosa is Torrevieja's salt lake, part of the La Mata and Torrevieja Lagoons Natural Park and famous for its pink water. Its colour, from pink to fuchsia, comes from microorganisms and is most intense on sunny days.

Laguna Rosa is the Torrevieja lagoon, the larger of the two salt lakes in the La Mata and Torrevieja Lagoons Natural Park in the south of Alicante province. The park was created in 1996 and spans four municipalities: Torrevieja, Guardamar del Segura, Los Montesinos and Rojales. The two lagoons are separated by a low ridge called El Chaparral and linked by a canal, while the neighbouring La Mata lagoon is emerald green. The pink colour comes from microorganisms that thrive in very salty water, the microalga Dunaliella salina and Halobacterium bacteria, as well as the tiny brine shrimp Artemia salina. The lagoons were already being used in the Middle Ages: in 1321 the Crown granted the Torrevieja lagoon to the city of Orihuela. In 1803 a decree by Charles IV moved the centre of salt production from La Mata to Torrevieja. The lagoons are linked to the sea by two artificial channels known as the Acequiones, and one of Europe's most important salt works still operates here. Swimming is prohibited because this is a protected area and private salt works land, and the water, with salinity similar to the Dead Sea, can irritate the skin. Take care near the shore, as soft mud can lie beneath the salt crust. The colour is most intense in summer, in July and August, in full midday sun. One review notes that the colour of the water depends on the time of day and that the pink barely shows up on most phone photos. Flamingos feed on the brine shrimp here and are most numerous in spring, during the breeding season, although some visitors write that they did not see any. One visitor does, however, praise the sunset over the lake. Individual reviews mention that the shore is reached along informal paths through scrub and that there is no shower nearby to rinse off the salt. The starting point for trails in the park is the interpretation centre (Centro de Interpretación), with four routes suitable for everyone.