La Marina

La Marina is a coastal village administered by the city of Elche, in the province of Alicante on Spain's Costa Blanca. Nearby inland is a large urbanisation built from the mid-1980s onwards confusingly also called La Marina: more correctly called Urbanisation La Marina. The village is on the Costa Azul bus route providing access northwards to Alicante and southbound to Torrevieja and ultimately Cartagena.La Marina is a district in the municipality of Elche, province of Alicante. It is located by the Mediterranean sea, by the mountain range of Sierra del Molar, very close to Guardamar del Segura and by the salt pans (Salinas) of Santa Pola. The 1'5 km long beach receives the same name. The main access to La Marina is through national road N-332.GeographyLa Marina has non-urban beaches, systems of dunes and large pine woods. The main beach (Las Pesqueras) is over 1100 metres long, although it continues towards the south and is connected to the Tusales beach of Guardamar del Segura.HistoryThe history of La Marina is very influenced by the disappearance of the San Francisco de Asís village in Sierra del Molar mountain range, as it was after the abandonment of the settlement when La Marina started to constitute a town.DemographyLa Marina has 2.093 inhabitants (INE 2009). La Marina has presented a rapid demographic growth in the past years. For example, its population increased by 48% between 2000 and 2006.EconomyOnce orientated towards fishing and agriculture, nowadays the local economy develops around sustainable tourism due to a restrictive measurement related to uncontrolled urban development. La Marina has a 'Great Comfort' international camping/resort of great quality towards which most tourists are attracted. As for local tourism, the beach awarded with the blue flag is the main resource, as well as two hotels and numerous restaurants in the town centre.