Strolling among the white houses of Almadrava

12 km south of L'Hospitalet de l'Infant, beyond the Coll de Balaguer pass, lies the village of L'Almadrava. The small white houses and their layout are reminiscent of a fishing village on the Levante coast in Valencia. This is not surprising, since some of the first settlers came from this part of Spain.

The village shares its name with the beach of l'Almadrava, a quiet beach with transparent waters and fine sand, which has an extension of 1,600 metres followed by a maritime promenade. The name Almadrava is closely linked to the tuna: the migration of this fish is the origin of its connection with the municipality and, specifically, with the town of L'Almadrava. In the past, during its journey to warm waters, the tuna was caught using a technique called almadraba, which consisted of surrounding the fish with nets so that they could be fished with harpoons. For this system to be effective, bay-shaped, shallow beaches were necessary, a characteristic found along the coast of L'Hospitalet de l'Infant and the Vall de Llors.

For hundreds of years, this feature attracted fishermen from all over the Mediterranean. The presence of these fishermen, largely from Altea and Benidorm (Marina Baixa, Valencia) and L'Ametlla de Mar (Baix Ebre, Catalonia), left a great gastronomic tradition and a very important identity mark.