The Costa Cálida (, "Warm Coast") is the approximately 250 km stretch of
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...
coastline of the
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas
**Spanish cuisine
**Spanish history
**Spanish culture
...
province
A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of
Murcia
Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
. This region has a
micro-climate which features comparatively hot mean annual temperatures (and hence its name, "Warm Coast") and a quite notable degree of aridity (
precipitation
In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls from clouds due to gravitational pull. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, rain and snow mixed ("sleet" in Commonwe ...
averaging less than 310 millimeters annually), scoring a semidesert category and in the southern parts even desert status in Koppen classification.
Geography and location
The Costa Cálida extends from
El Mojón in the north near the province of
Alicante
Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...
, to near the municipality of
Águilas
Águilas () is a municipality and seaport of southeastern Spain, in the province of Murcia. It is situated at the southern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, otherwise known as the Costa Cálida, near the border with the Province of Almer ...
in the south bordering on the region of
Almería province.
The northern end of this coastline includes the
Mar Menor ("Lesser Sea"), a coastal
saltwater lagoon which at around 170 km
2 is Europe's largest. The Mar Menor is separated from the Mediterranean by a 22 km-long spit of land called
La Manga
La Manga (), or La Manga del Mar Menor (meaning "The Sandbar of the Minor Sea") is a seaside spit (landform), spit of Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia, Spain.
The strip is 21 km long and 100 metres wide (average), separating the Mediterran ...
, on which most of the
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...
development for the region has been constructed.
Cartagena and
Mazarrón
Mazarrón is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Region of Murcia, autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The municipality has an area of , and a population of 31,562 inhabitants in 2019. A military fort (name ...
are two other important coastal towns in the region.
Golf is a popular pastime for visitors and residents. There are many
PGA championship courses such as
Hacienda Riquelme Golf Resort which hosted the 2009 and 2010 Spanish Pro Golf Championship,
which hosted the PGA European Seniors Tour in June 2011,
Hacienda del Alamo which is the longest golf course in Spain and the famous
La Manga Club, in Cartagena.
In popular culture
* In the 1996 point-and-click adventure video game ''
Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars'', Costa Cálida is home to the Villa de Vasconcellos location.
References
External links
Official Tourism site of Murcia, Spain(click on ''English'' at the bottom)
Calida
Landforms of the Region of Murcia
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