Mazarrón beaches: Playa del Castellar

Playa Grande-Castellar, a kilometre of sandy beach between Puerto de Mazarrón and Bolnuevo

The Playa del Castellar is a vast semi-urban Mediterranean beach, one of the 33 which are to be found along the 35-kilometre coastline of Mazarrón between the municipalities of Cartagena and Lorca. 

This is a huge stretch of open sand beach which adjoins the Cabezo de Castellar and the neighbouring Playa de Nares at one end, before petering out by the Rambla de las Moreras, which feeds out floodwaters from inland areas into the Mediterranean during periods of heavy rain.

It is between 2.6 and 3.5 kilometres from the centre of the Puerto de Mazarrón and is easily accessed from Avenida del Castellar, which forms part of the long coastal road linking the Puerto de Mazarrón to Bolnuevo.

This area is lined with residential houses and apartments, with a number of small dead-end streets running off the main road down to the edge of the beach. These provide plenty of parking but during the summer, when the population of the municipality swells from 30,000 to 150,000, space does become limited. There are also bicycle racks and some spaces allocated for disabled parking, although during the summer there’s little chance of finding one unoccupied.

The beach was to be incorporated into the Club de Mar development, for which preparation was carried out before building was abandoned, and this provides a convenient hard-parking area.

Nearer the port, completed residential developments replace the unkempt building site and the beach becomes busier. It is serviced by the urban bus on the urban Mazarrón-Murcia route. 

The western end of Playa Castellar is known as Playa de las Moreras (next to the Rambla, or floodwater channel, of the same name), and been designated a dog friendly beach. This area contained wild vegetation and is not recommended for swimming - it was the scene of a tragic drowning in the summer of 2011. While the water appears calm the bottom is soft and muddy, tangled with roots, and small children should not be left unsupervised in this area. 

However, away from the mouth of the rambla a glorious beach stretches along the front with an average width of 26 metres, most of it fine, golden sand, and it is seldom crowded due to the distance from the centre of Puerto de Mazarrón.

In the summer of 2019 the Town Hall of Mazarrón declared the Playa de El Castellar a “no smoking beach”. There is no absolute ban on smoking – such a prohibition would be against Spanish law as it stands – but beachgoers are actively discouraged from lighting up, and those who insist on doing so are offered leaflets explaining why there are requested not to and disposable ashtrays.

At the eastern end of the beach is Cabezo del Castellar, an unprepossessing outcrop which is actually an important archaeological site and which offers splendid views along the coastline.

Facilities

The Playa de Castellar flies both the Blue Flag abnd the Q for Quality flag, indicating that it has been recognised by both the Spanish Tourist Board and an international body set up to encourage environmentally friendly beaches, the FEE. The flags are in recognition of the quality of the services on this beach as well as its cleanliness and the quality of the water.

The services include drinking water, footwashes, toilets, toilets adapted for disabilities, disabled parking spaces (5), bins and recycling collection points, lifeguard and medical services, children’s play areas, bicycle racks, a seafront promenade, a shaded garden area, water sports equipment hire and water slides. There are also wooden walkways down onto the beach during summer.

Behind the front line are plenty of restaurants and bars offering a full range of catering options and facilities, with the large Hotel Playa Grande alongside the beach. From here it is an easy drive into either Bolnuevo or the Puerto de Mazarrón, where there are supermarkets and more shops/hostelries.

For more local information go to the home page of Mazarrón Today, or click here for an overview of all 33 beaches in the municipality of Mazarrón.