La Nucía - Spain's sports city with history & culture

Anyone who visits La Nucía quickly realises that this place is more than just a white spot between Benidorm and Altea. Stories from centuries, a rapidly growing population, international influences - and a vision that aims to make La Nucía the sports city of Spain - are condensed into just under 21 square kilometres.

From Arab „Naziha“ to self-confident community
The origin of the name goes back to Arabic: „Naziha“ means „delicious“. It was not until 1705 that La Nucía separated from the barony of Polop and wrote its own history. For generations, the people lived from almonds, olives and citrus fruits. Traces of this time can still be found today in the narrow alleyways of the old town or at the covered wash house from the 1920s.
Growth that surprises
At the beginning of the 1980s, La Nucía had barely 3,500 inhabitants. Today there are almost 19,000 - a third of whom come from abroad. Dutch, Belgians, Scandinavians: they have turned the municipality into a melting pot where almost as many languages are spoken at the Sunday morning market as goods on offer.

Roxana and the tears of Favara
But La Nucía is not just statistics. It is the stories that bring the place to life. One of them tells of Roxana, the daughter of a ruler, who fled for love and was turned to stone by a priestess. Her tears, it is said, still flow - as the source of the Font de la Favara. Anyone sitting there today will hear the roar of the waterfall and understand why this legend has been passed on for centuries.

Culture meets modernity
La Nucía recognised early on that tradition alone is not enough. In 2007, the Auditorio del Mediterráneo was created as a cultural centre that brings concerts, dance and exhibitions together under one roof. At the Captivador, an environmental education centre surrounded by Mediterranean vegetation, nature and sustainability are given top priority.