San Pedro Del Pinatar (looking on to La Manga Del Mar Menor)

As well as one of the town's architectural symbols, the Quintín mill, the surrounding area contains the Salinas de San Pedro del Pinatar Regional Park, a space where a great many species of migratory birds come to nest. You can also benefit from the therapeutic properties of its mud, especially suitable for treating bone and skin ailments.

San Pedro del Pinatar saltworks are the most significant marshland area of Murcia 's Region. They were stated Nature Reserve Regional Park on 1985. Flamingos and other migratory bird flocks nest here every year, using this Nature Reserve as a stopping place in their migrations between Europe and Africa .

San Pedro del Pinatar Saltworks Nature Reserve is a unique Mediterranean coastal spot. Within a relatively small space (700 Ha. -about 1.800 acres-) you can see terrain formations such as saltworks, dunes, salt marshes, reedbeds, large and wild sand beaches, pinetrees growing in the sands and "encañizadas" (Traditional fishing system in Mar Menor. It lies in capturing the fishes that swim through small natural channels from Mediterranean Sea to Mar Menor lake. The fishes are forced to pass across a complex labyrinth built with reeds and wood pieces and they are captured)

The bird's fauna is specially important. Flamingos are the kings of the area, because of their spectacular nature. Flamingo flocks arrive to the Nature Reserve at the end of the Summer to hibernate in the place.

There are two bird watching areas from which you can observe, also, many other birds, such as herons, eaglets, owls, storks, storklets (himantopus himpantopus) seagulls, charranes (sterna hirundo) chorlitos patinegros (charadrius alexandrinus) and avocetas (avosetta recurvirostra) among other species.

The existence of saltworks in this Nature Reserve is so old as the human being's presence. Fourteen Century documents mention these saltworks already. The two windmills that stay nowadays were used to pump up the salty Mar Menor's water to the saltwork ponds. Now they use electrical pumps, but the windmills outline is still part of the landscape.

Visit to the Saltworks and Sandy Spots Nature Reserve.