Modern new-build apartments in the city of Pilar de la Horadada

Located in Pilar de la Horadada (22,000 inhabitants), Province of Alicante, Spain. A coastal town that has recently developed thanks to tourism. It owes its name to two factors: first, the 16th-century watchtower; and second, the place where that tower stands: Punta de la Horadada (“horadada” refers to the fact that this piece of land jutting into the sea has small caves formed by the water—i.e., it is perforated). La Torre de la Horadada has several Blue Flag beaches. Among its beaches, Los Jesuitas, El Conde, El Puerto, and the distinctive small Cala de la Lombriz, with fine sand and crystal-clear waters, stand out. A legend, known only to local residents, says that the beaches and their inhabitants were frequently attacked by pirates, and that thanks to the system of watchtowers and the use of sea conch shells as a warning system, it was possible to put an end to them. The pirates’ leader had his hand pierced with a red-hot iron, driven through it, thus giving the area its name: La Torre de la mano Horadada, which later evolved into “La Torre de la Horadada,” its current name. The watchtower formed part of the coastal surveillance system and was built in 1580 on an earlier tower. It marked the traditional southern boundary of the Kingdom of Valencia, and during the 19th century it was used to send signals with the optical telegraph. It is very well connected to the airports of San Javier (15 km) and Alicante (60 km) via the A7, and has several shopping centers nearby, such as Zenia Boulevard or Dos Mares.