Another new date for the opening of the Torrevieja Port leisure area

The new Paseo del Mar leisure centre in Torrevieja’s Port will open in late April or early May. According to sources from the concessionary business, this is the most recent and final opening date, which was publicly announced for Easter after being postponed numerous times in 2024 and 2025. With the majority of the construction, funded by a group of businesspeople, completed, the adaptation of the facilities and fitting out of the various premises had slowed due to the significant delay in the City Council’s work in the port area to improve accessibility to the commercial space itself and give a new look to the waterfront in this part of downtown Torrevieja. These projects, carried out by the local administration, are presently underway, albeit behind schedule.

Saturday and Sunday

The concessionaire and hospitality businesses, largely franchises, who will set up shop in this new commercial space have stepped up their efforts, working for weeks, even on Saturdays and Sundays, to finish the common areas and interior fitting out of the premises. The concession area includes more than 20,000 square meters of prime beachfront space overlooking the bay, which is currently occupied by four or five-story buildings, as well as 8,500 square meters for 27 retail outlets. Óptima Global Services (OGS) manages leasing, having signed contracts for 80% of business space and secured 100% of obligations, according to corporate records. Plans also call for the building of a multiplex cinema, which will most likely be operated by the concessionaire, as well as an American-style bowling alley owned by the Quereda family, Spain’s pioneering bowling enterprise.

Image

The concessionaire is now finishing up development on the pedestrian walkway that will provide direct access to the leisure and business hub at the port’s main entrance. This massive elevated ramp has obscured sea vistas from what has long been the city’s maritime centre: the junction between the Vista Alegre and La Libertad promenades, Calle Waldo Calero Square, the start of Calle Chapaprieta, and the Casino terrace.

The finishing touches are also being applied to image aspects such as the LED lighting, which has been visible for a few weeks, large screens, and the corporate projection of the commercial space, which is being projected onto the large buildings that occupy the fairgrounds’ new esplanade, as well as interior design and green areas.

The concessionaire ensures that Paseo del Mar will open despite the obvious delay in nearby urbanisation projects, which are the responsibility of the Torrevieja City Council. In June, it is believed that at least a portion of the funfair will be able to return to its original location on an esplanade, where only a concrete slab, new lighting and a municipal structure not originally included in the project are visible. However, it is expected that the famed Torrevieja May Fair will once again take place in the concert and market location adjacent to Avenida Delfina Viudes.

The other entrance to the port area, located at the Paseo de las Rocas (Juan Aparicio) between the Man of the Sea monument and the start of the Paseo del Dique de Levante, has only recently begun construction. There is no structure yet. Redevelopment work is currently taking place near the Customs House, along the bay’s waterfront promenade between the Mínguez pier and the new fish market, and at the fairground.

Vial & Capdepont

The City Council began the reconstruction of Capdepont Square a few weeks ago by demolishing the single-story structure. The goal was to create a road between the Waldo Calero Square roundabout and Calle Rambla Mateo that would serve as an exit for the majority of the traffic generated by the concessionary company’s enormous underground parking garage. Once completed, this garage will improve its services for tourists to Torrevieja’s city centre seafront. However, after the demolition was completed, work on the small square did not resume.

Initially, the City Council assures that the ficus and distinctive multi-armed palm trees that characterise the site will not be removed; yet, it appears difficult to lay out a road with the surface already available if the trees are not removed.

The approximately 150 artisan stalls of the “hippies,” which are now placed on Avenida de la Estación, have no definite return date. They will be scattered across the area surrounding the Customs House, the new pedestrian zone established on the former Paseo de la Libertad, and the façade of the new buildings in the complex, adjacent to the funfair.

Municipal Investment in the Port of Torrevieja

The concessionaire, led by Empresas del Sol and Enrique Riquelme, among other construction and real estate development firms in the Vega Baja region, has invested more than €50 million, exceeding the initial €20 million, in the commercial space that has transformed Torrevieja’s traditional port. This comprises an investment of roughly €5 million in the new fish market as well as a complete repair of the Customs building for use by the Generalitat de Valencia. In addition to these two projects, the Consell (Valencian regional government) authorised the construction of the port’s access road, which is still unfinished until the completion of the Levante breakwater footbridge.

The concession has a 50-year operation life, and the business area, where port use restrictions prohibit commercial services other than hospitality or nautical activity, currently totally fills the privileged territory of the old landfill adjacent to the bay.

The sole facility to open on time in the commercial space itself – around a year ago – was the Port’s underground parking garage, run by Telpark, before Easter 2025, relieving the burden of a scarcity of spots in the centre.