Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas Walk
Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas is one of Torrevieja’s main roads that runs from the outskirts of La Mata through Torrevieja’s outer lying residential areas. It then becomes Calle Apolo which continues through the city centre until it reaches the harbour and beach front Boulevard known as Paseo Juan Aparicio.
I set out to find this road from the city end of Playa Los Locos (Los Locos Beach) which is also the start of Avenida de las Habaneras. I took the first street heading away from the beach and into the outskirts of the city called Calle del Palangre, and was pleasantly surprised to discover a great value little tapas bar at the first intersection, called Copa Llena. It was a bit dark inside, but who cares when you can get a plate of chicken wings and a bottle of beer for 3.50€ or calamari and a beer for 3.00€ Adequately satisfied I continued on past apartment blocks, receiving wolf whistles from a cheeky parrot along the way, until Calle Paris T-Junction. Heading left I continued along Calle Paris until as the street forks my attention was drawn to another tapas bar on the left that had set out their al fresco dining area in the parking bays on the street !! Well I had been walking for about 15 minutes so decided refreshment was in order.
Another great find this was, serving the very rare Voll Damm double malt beer which is one of my all time favourites and at 7.2 % alcohol content, rather strong. The extremely friendly barman added 2 king prawns and 2 cheese filled potato croquettes to go with my beer, free of charge. Happy with my find, I braved the ”street dining area” and so lovely was the beer and food I decided another was in order, again accompanied by prawns and croquettes. This friendly establishment looks more like a cafe than a bar and is spotlessly clean with a couple of gaming machines and inside tables and chairs. There is no name, just a sign saying Jegging which means gaming in English. Continuing my journey, keeping to the right fork in the road, it passes through a residential area and after about 10 minutes comes to the T-Junction that is Avenida de las Cortes Valencianas.
On the corner is a posh looking gymnasium and a large warehouse style shoe shop selling a fantastic range of trainers, shoes and handbags that would last you a week if you were lucky !! Directly across the road was my initial destination, Iceland Supermarket that was just closing their doors, I shouldn’t have had that last beer. Anyway no great loss so I decided I would head down this main road towards the harbour to see what it had to offer. This is where industry meets retail and the road is lined with large furniture warehouses and car showrooms interspersed with smaller shops, bars and a couple more ”great value” shoe shops. Having missed Iceland I was in no hurry so popped into El Paso Bar which is on the left of the road next to a car showroom. This place is like an Aladdin’s Cave, lined with dark wood panelling and a huge solid wood beam used as a bar counter, it is covered in antique collectibles, old signs and some interesting pieces of art. For such an amazing place the prices were very reasonable. Tostada & coffee 1.80€ various tapas 2.00€ and half a pint of Heineken 1.50€.
The road name then changes to Calle Apolo as it heads down to the beach, with a few shops, bars and takeaways until you reach the Hotel Juan Carlos which is on the right and looks in good order with fresh paint work and a nice terrace area out front. Just after that, still on the right is some fantastic graffiti wall art and on the left a specialist liquor store called Menta Cash. The shop has a huge range of malt whiskeys, various other hard to find spirits and rack upon rack of superb wines and sherries. Other than some small shops, bars and restaurants the only place of note before you reach the beach and harbour area is a large and excellent value fruit & veg shop located on the corner of Calle Apolo and Calle Antonio Machado.