Los Alcázares beaches: Playa Manzanares

A well-equipped urban beach on the shore of the Mar Menor

This well-equipped urban sandy beach on the shores of the Mar Menor is located between Calle Telégrafos and Plaza de la Pescaderia in Los Alcázares, and has been awarded a Q for Quality flag in recognition of its installations and cleanliness.

The beach is 800 metres long and 15 metres wide, with soft, natural grey sand and a full range of services.

During the summer this area of the Mar Menor is extremely busy and the urban beaches have high occupancy. Los Alcázares has been popular with holidaymakers since the beginning of the 20th century, when visitors from the cities of Murcia and Madrid began to migrate to the Mar Menor for the summer, and it remains so today.

Behind Playa Manzanares is the Hotel “La Encarnación”, built in 1904, the oldest hotel in the Region of Murcia and one of the oldest surviving buildings in the town. It was built when the affluent middle classes from the cities started to visit the seaside to enjoy the therapeutic benefits of the warm waters of the Mar Menor, using bathing stations, which stretched out into the Mar Menor on stilts, ensuring bathers a modicum of decency as they entered the warm waters.

Just a few metres along the Paseo is the Balneario de San Antonio, the only surviving bathing station of its kind and a lovely place to enjoy a meal: some of the original features still survive and diners can still see the original places from which bathers would descend into the water. 

Behind the beach is a long paved promenade which stretches all the way along the seven beaches of the municipality of Los Alcázares to Playa de las Salinas, a distance of 7km. This rout eis very popular with walkers, joggers and cyclists throughout the year. 

The mild year-round climate in this part of Spain, the shallow waters and the prevailing winds in the Mar Menor make the area a mecca for all types of water sports and activities. Separated from the Mediterranean by the 22-kilometre strip of La Manga, it is only 7 metres deep in the centre and the shallow fringes and lack of tide and waves make it safe for families with young children as well as attractive for novices in sports such as canoeing, sailing, windsurfing and kayaking.

Playa Manzanares is very well catered for with several beach bars and restaurants situated on the promenade. In the streets behind there is some parking, with a short walk to the beach, but they are very crowded during summer and spaces are at a premium.

Nearby there are small parks with footpaths and bicycle racks are also available.

Playa Manzanares is well serviced, with toilets, footwashes, bins, recycling points, wooden walkways, lifeguard and auxiiary medical service, and also shares disabled toilets and disabled changing facilities with neighbouring Playa El Espejo. During the summer assisted bathing is also available.

Safety precautions for Mar Menor beaches

Most of the Mar Menor beaches have very gently sloping shelves, meaning that bathers can walk a considerable distance from the shore and still only be waist high in the water. These shore fringes are also very warm, heating up more than the deeper water and the Mediterranean, particularly during the hot summer months.

Many beaches are also protected by netting to exclude jellyfish. This creates safe bathing areas for families but there is also a danger as the calm water means that many elderly bathers bathe alone. This in itself is not dangerous, but every year there are unnecessary fatalities when bathers suffer heart attacks, strokes, faints or dizzy spells, slipping into the water without anyone else being aware.

The transition from hot beach to cold water can shock the body, causing dizziness or fainting, so it is advisable to splash the body with water to cool down before wading out!