Duration: 1 hour. Easy. Steep steps at start, stone tracks, long flight of steps at end. Very little shade, but occasional concrete benches to rest on. Map at the end of this post.
This walk takes you from the pleasant shingle beach of Torres along the rugged coastline to the 16th century watchtower of Torre d’Aguiló (Eagle Tower in English) and spectacular views of the skyscrapers of Benidorm.
There’s a much quicker 15 minute version here that just takes you up the hill to Torre d’Aguiló itself from Cala Finestrat – but you will miss out on some great sea views!
Start point – Playa/Platja de Torres
So let’s stick to the longer trail. As you arrive at Playa de Torres from the main N-332 Villajoyosa to Benidorm road, you’ll notice a ghost town slowly reviving itself after the massive property crash of 2008. You’ll notice plenty of empty streets and pavements. But now, the zone nearest the sea is a hive of activity as the long-planned developments start to take shape.
You’ll also see the restored Roman funeral tower, the 1,800 year old Torre de Sant Josep (for more info, see my blogpost on the Romans in La Vila)
Start the walk at the opposite end of the beach from the campsite, following a path and rough steps up to the headland. From there, simply follow the track along the cliffs towards Benidorm.
It’s well marked, with signs saying “Colada de la Costa” and stone “Via Pecuaria” markers at regular intervals. Vias Pecuarias were drovers’ roads used by shepherds who brought their flocks down from the mountains in winter.
The path winds in and out, following the contours of the coves and cliffs; all you’ll see are rugged sea views, pretty little flowers among the rocks in springtime, plus the occasional mountain biker (it’s a popular route) and walkers like yourselves.
If you fancy heading down to the water’s edge, try a diversion to the rocky little cove of Cala Fonda – no beach here, but beautiful clear water, good for snorkeling.
Racó de Conill beach
A little further on, at about the half way point, you’ll notice the tiny cove of Racó de Conill down below. It’s a nudist beach, served by a narrow tarmac road that comes over the hill from the main N-332. It’s a long way down from our path though, so you have to ask yourself; how badly do I want to go skinny dipping?
But there is a plus point; there’s a cool clifftop route (arrowed below) that takes you from sea level at Racó de Conill all the way to Torre d’Aguiló. It’s a lot more work, but the views are great!
We’re staying on the higher level path, so just continue onwards towards the Torre d’Aguiló, which you can see poking up over the top of the hill ahead.
Walk past a wire fence and as you near the tower, there’s plenty of shade among the pine trees and the odd picnic table to rest at. Then the final lap is a flight of steps that leads up to the tower itself (pic below).
Torre de L’Aguiló – a little history
It was built in the 1500s as part of a 60-strong chain of forts to protect the Valencian coastline from the Barbary corsairs, semi-legal pirates, who were then a real menace. They raided the Spanish coast, kidnapped local people and sold them in the slave markets of Algiers, or ransomed their captives.
They terrorised coastal communities all over the Mediterranean and even raided as far as the south coast of England.
The tower would have been manned by soldiers whose job was to spot incoming ships and give warning by lighting a signal fire on the platform at the top and blowing a conch shell horn.
They also had to check all the coves along the coast every day at dawn and signal the ‘all clear’ by raising a pole with palm branches on it. The signal would have been picked up and passed on by the next tower in the chain.
To the north, that would have been Torre de Les Caletes, just the other side of Benidorm, which you can see across the bay. To the south, the now-demolished castle at Villajoyosa.
Torre d’Aguiló has been restored, and there is a modern metal staircase that gives access to the tower itself, but it’s sadly not open to the public.
Out in the bay you’ll see the Islote (little island) de Benidorm; it’s uninhabited and a nature reserve, but for €19 you can catch a boat across from Benidorm and explore. Check out my post here
Immediately below you lies the pretty beach of La Cala de Finestrat. Pretty, that is, if you’re looking out to sea. If you look inland, the bay is completely overwhelmed by high rise tourist blocks, the biggest of which is not much more than a concrete skeleton.
And the next bay along is the tourist mecca of Benidorm. Until the 1950s it was just a fishing village; now it has the greatest number of high-rise buildings per inhabitant in the world (says Wikipedia). Compared to the tranquility of the walk along the cliffs, it’s like gazing down at a different planet.
Shortcut to the top!
I promised a shortcut to the tower, for folk who want to cut out the coastal walk from Torres and just climb up to Torre de L’Aguiló itself. Well, two shortcuts actually.
Number 1 – park up on Carrer Tramuntana in Cala de Finestrat where you see the purple Torre signpost. A good gravel path takes you the 15-20 minute walk from there right to the tower itself. It’s an easy walk though there are some steep steps en route.
Number 2 – alternatively, you can walk up from the back of La Cala beach. Head for the car park to the right of the beach (as you look out to sea) and you’ll see the sign (below). Go up the steps and keep to your right on a red paved path up the side of apartment buildings – there’s a good trail to the top.
If you bear left instead, the path takes you up the cliff edge to the top – it’s a lot steeper and stony-er, but the views are better!
El Tossal de la Cala – more Benidorm views!
If you’re still feeling energetic, cross the Cala de Finestrat beach and climb up to Tossal de la Cala on the opposite side of the bay. The headland was a fort (or castellum) in Roman times, and was settled by ancient Iberian people long before that.
The top of El Tossal has been excavated and the ruins opened to the public in the last few years. It’s free to get in. Opening times are 9am-9pm from June till the end of September, 9am – 5pm the rest of the year. You can also catch a guided tour. Details here.
Head up to the mirador right at the top to get an even more spectacular vista of the Benidorm skyline and the huge Playa de Poniente beach.
You can’t miss the giant M-shaped Intempo building which dominates the bay – see the photo above. At 47 floors, it’s the tallest residential tower in Spain and was yet another casualty of the Spanish property crash.
The building was almost finished as long ago as 2014, but the developers went bust shortly afterwards. It wasn’t completed till 2021 – apartments are still on sale if you fancy the view and can spare upwards of a million euros!
Cala de Finestrat has its own very visible example of property development gone wrong. The skeleton of the Atrium Beach hotel dominates the seafront. But work stopped way back in 2003 following two fatal accidents on the construction site.
There was also a little matter of a number of extra floors being built without permission on top of the hotel, a common scam on the Costa Blanca. According to local media reports, the developers had permission for 11 floors, but actually built 21! Which explains why the hotel looks so massively out of scale compared with the beach across the road.
For two decades, nothing happened while the battle between La Vila Joiosa council and the developers inched its way through the courts. Finally, in early 2024, we saw some movement. La Vila council ordered the developers to partially demolish the Atrium Beach, getting rid of all those extra floors built without permission. Let’s see what happens!
How to get there
If you don’t fancy tackling the return leg on foot, you can return to Villajoyosa with a combination of bus and/or tram. Catch bus 54 from Carrer Xaloc. Or catch a number 2 bus from Avda dels Mariners de La Vila Joiosa up to the Carrefour hypermarket. The tram stop La Marina/Cala Finestrat is just behind.
See Benidorm from the other end of the beach – the Benidorm Cross. Link here. And if you’re still feeling energetic, you might like to try more walks around La Vila:
- Villajoyosa harbour to Malladeta
- Exploring the old town of Villajoyosa
- Exploring Villajoyosa’s beaches
- La Ermita and the Amadorio dam
- The five-beach walk to Playa del Xarco
- Torre del Barranc d’Aigües watchtower
- Exploring Finestrat
- Torre de les Caletes watchtower walk, Benidorm
© Guy Pelham 2017