In this small Spanish village, which was once a salt mine, residents come from 182 nations.

Torrevieja was once a small salt producing town nestled along the Costa Blanca Sur in Spain. Today, it is one of Spain’s most multicultural and cosmopolitan towns, with people from 182 nations.

Torrevieja was not built to be in the spotlight but its resilient reputation, built long before tourism, preceded the earthquake that destroyed the city in 1829.

Torrevieja’s history is brief in years but rich in depth — a coastal settlement with a long and storied past. This town’s blood has always been white, from medieval fishermen who huddled around Cala Cornuda up to the salt empire which fed kings and financed wars. 

By the end of the 20th century word had started to spread. They came to enjoy the weather and stayed for its pace of living. Over the years, this sleepy enclave has become one of Spain’s international municipalities. A cultural melting pot. It’s in the different languages that are spoken along the promenade. You taste it in the food served up in family-run restaurants from La Mata to Acequión. British, Moroccan, Ukrainian, Dutch, Colombian, Swedish — every corner has its flavour, and yet nothing feels out of place.

No big museum tells this story. No single landmark. Just a quiet town that has reinvented itself without losing its original honesty. Torrevieja today is a place where people don’t just come to visit — they come to belong. It’s a city that is not shaped by fame or fortune, but by those who have chosen to live there.