Defense Towers
The Marina Baixa region, whose historic capital is La Vila Joiosa, has always lived facing the sea. One of the reasons why it has always been open to the Mediterranean is the great arc of mountains that surrounds it and which made land communication difficult, as most of the passages were not suitable for the transport of goods.
But the sea was not only the commercial 'highway' of the region, it was also the scene of constant attacks by Barbary pirates. The increase in pirate raids forced the towns to plan a defence.
At the end of the 15th century and during the 16th century, under king Philip II, a whole system of watchtowers was built to spot the enemy before they could disembark in order to kidnap people for ransom or to sell them as slaves on their return to their homeland. The defence district of La Vila Joiosa, which covered the entire Marina Baixa, had four castles and five watchtowers. In the event of sighting Barbary ships, smoke and fire signals were sent to the watchtowers inland the municipality. The whole defence system was coordinated from the castle of La Vila Joiosa, which has nowadays become a park where visitors can find different display panels. Two of those watchtowers remain in La Vila Joiosa: the Torre de l'Aguiló and the Torre del Xarco.
Built in 1530, this is the oldest remaining tower in the area. It is located at the northern end of the town, in Cala de La Vila. It is a square tower measuring four metres on the sides and eight metres high. As explained on the information panel on the site: "The tower had three soldiers who inspected the neighbouring coves every morning and had a powerful mortar to make it difficult to land in La Vila Joiosa and Benidorm. To warn of danger, a smoky fire was set on the terrace".
From the tower there are exceptional views of the entire bay of the region, so from there they even controlled the signals coming from other places such as Calpe, San Juan or Alicante.
The access to the tower is a very pleasant route of a little more than one kilometre and takes approximately one hour. From Cala de La Vila cove there is an access comfortably reachable where to enjoy incredible views and spot seabirds, the typical flora of our mountains such as the white or Aleppo pine, and if lucky may even spot dolphins in the open sea.
The Torre de l'Aguiló can also be reached by the Colada de la Costa, a route of approximately 8 kilometres from Playa del Torres that runs between cliffs and with spectacular views of the Mediterranean.
This is the southernmost watchtower in La Vila Joiosa district. The tower has a circular ground plan with a diameter of seven metres, a cylindrical body, and a height of 12 metres. It is located on a headland about 31 metres above sea level in the southern part of the Xarco cove. From here it is possible to see the cape of Santa Pola to the south and Benidorm to the north.
From La Vila Joiosa there is also a medium-low difficulty route to enjoy a walk between cliffs, bordering the Mediterranean until you reach the Xarco cove. The tower is privately owned, so to access it, visitors may need to ask the owners for permission.
