San Pedro del Pinatar, Spain
| San Pedro del Pinatar | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Municipality | |||
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Town's view from the salt ponds | |||
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  San Pedro del Pinatar  San Pedro del Pinatar Location in Murcia | |||
| Coordinates: 37°49′N 0°45′W / 37.817°N 0.750°WCoordinates: 37°49′N 0°45′W / 37.817°N 0.750°W | |||
| Country |
 Spain | ||
| Autonomous community |
 Murcia | ||
| Province | Murcia | ||
| Comarca | Mar Menor | ||
| Judicial district | San Javier | ||
| Government | |||
| • Alcalde | Visitación Martínez Martínez (2011) (PP) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 22.32 km2 (8.62 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 13 m (43 ft) | ||
| Population (2008) | |||
| • Total | 23,738 | ||
| • Density | 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi) | ||
| Demonym(s) | Pinatarense | ||
| Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
| • Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
| Postal code | 30740 | ||
| Official language(s) | Español | ||
| Website | Official website | ||
San Pedro del Pinatar is a small town and municipality in the autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The municipality is situated at the northern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, the Costa Cálida, and borders with the province of Alicante. It has an area of almost 22 km², and a population (2008) of 23,738.
Geography
San Pedro del Pinatar (Saint Peter of the Pinewoods) is about 49 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. The municipality is situated between the Mediterranean Sea coast and the Mar Menor ("Little Sea"), a coastal saltwater lagoon which is the largest in Europe. The Mar Menor coast belongs to other three municipalities: San Javier, Los Alcázares and Cartagena. The latter is not by the Mar Menor itself, but in the Mediterranean. San Pedro del Pinatar occupies a small peninsula with 14 km of coastline between the two seas. The terrain is a mostly low-lying littoral depression, with an average elevation of only 13 m above mean sea level.
Economy and industries
Fishing and related processing industries have been a mainstay of the local municipal economy, with tourism and service–related industries playing an ever-increasing role.
Salt ponds have been worked in the area since the time of the Roman Empire.
A small port in the Mediterranean Sea exists, with activity based on the fishing and the transport of the salt; as well as a leisure port with a large number of berths. There is another marina in the Mar Menor next to the fish market and the fishermen's wharf .
Entertainment
San Pedro del Pinatar continues to be a very popular Spanish holiday destination and the population increases during the summer months as people from Madrid (and other Spaniards) with second homes descend on the area. Lots of free entertainment is provided by the council.
Celebrations
- Processions and parades at Easter
- At the end of June, San Pedro Apostle.
- On 16 July, "romería" of the Virgin of the Carmen.
Monuments and places of interest
- Ethnographic Archaeological museum (Calle Dr. Mirón de Castro: It contains paleontological fossils, objects, etc. It has an exclusive room for submarine archaeology and another one for the ethnographic type dedicated to the last centuries (from the 18th century).
- Museum of the Sea (Calle Ingeniero Lorenzo Morales, 2.): marine and marine article collections.
- Conservation and research center of the Humedales "Las Salinas" (Avda. de las salinas): it offers interesting exhibitions on the natural park and the work in the salt mines.
- "Casa del reloj" or Villa of San Sebastian (Avda. Artero Guirao): an example of modernist architecture. The Spanish president, Emilio Castelar y Ripoll, died here in 1899. Since the end of the 20th century it has been reconstructed and turned into a restaurant.
- Church of San Pedro Apostle (Plaza de la Constitucion): it is a temple that became a Franciscan hermitage in the 17th century.
- Palace of counts Villar de Felices or Casa of the Russian (C/ Victor Pradera s/n): building in neo-mudéjar style constructed in the 19th century by order of Baron de Benifalló.
- Fish Market in Lo Pagán (Explanada of Lo Pagán): a traditional fish auction can be seen here.
- The "Salinas y Arenales" natural park.
Beaches
In the Mar Menor:
- Villananitos
- La Puntica
- La Mota
In the Mediterranean Sea:
- Beach El Mojón
- Beach of La Torre Derribada Playa
- Beach of Las Salinas
- Beach Punta de Algas
- Beach of La Barraca Quemada
Others links
- (in Spanish) Salinas y Arenales de San Pedro del Pinatar
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to San Pedro del Pinatar. |
- (in Spanish) Local Government website
- San Pedro del Pinatar
- Lo Pagan coastal neighborhood of San Pedro