What's on in Santa Pola

Santa Pola is a working fishing port on the Costa Blanca, just south of Alicante, with one of the busiest trawler fleets on this coast and a daily fish auction to match. There's a squat 16th-century castle in the centre, long flat beaches, salt pans full of flamingos behind the town, and ferries out to the little island of Tabarca. It's a down-to-earth, family-holiday sort of place rather than a glossy resort.

Its maritime roots show in the GALP Fishing and Nautical Festival, a celebration of the port and the sea, while the Playa Lisa and Tamarit neighbourhoods hold their own summer fiestas. Here's what's on while you're here.