San Pedro del Pinatar | |||
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Municipality | |||
Town's view from the salt ponds
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Location in Murcia | |||
Coordinates: 37°49′N 0°45′W / 37.817°N 0.750°WCoordinates: 37°49′N 0°45′W / 37.817°N 0.750°W | |||
Country | Spain | ||
Autonomous community | Murcia | ||
Province | Murcia | ||
Comarca | Mar Menor | ||
Judicial district | San Javier | ||
Government | |||
• Alcalde | Visitación Martínez Martínez (2011) (PP) | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 22.32 km2 (8.62 sq mi) | ||
Elevation | 13 m (43 ft) | ||
Population (2008) | |||
• Total | 23,738 | ||
• Density | 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi) | ||
Demonym(s) | Pinatarense | ||
Time zone | CET (UTC+1) | ||
• Summer (DST) | CEST (UTC+2) | ||
Postal code | 30740 | ||
Official language(s) | Español | ||
Website | Official website |
San Pedro del Pinatar is a small town and municipality in the autonomous community and province of Murcia, southeastern Spain. The municipality is situated at the northern end of Murcia's Mediterranean coastline, the Costa Cálida, and borders with the province of Alicante. It has an area of almost 22 km², and a population (2008) of 23,738.
San Pedro del Pinatar (Saint Peter of the Pinewoods) is about 49 km from the provincial capital, Murcia. The municipality is situated between the Mediterranean Sea coast and the Mar Menor ("Little Sea"), a coastal saltwater lagoon which is the largest in Europe. The Mar Menor coast belongs to other three municipalities: San Javier, Los Alcázares and Cartagena. The latter is not by the Mar Menor itself, but in the Mediterranean. San Pedro del Pinatar occupies a small peninsula with 14 km of coastline between the two seas. The terrain is a mostly low-lying littoral depression, with an average elevation of only 13 m above mean sea level.
Fishing and related processing industries have been a mainstay of the local municipal economy, with tourism and service–related industries playing an ever-increasing role.
Salt ponds have been worked in the area since the time of the Roman Empire.
A small port in the Mediterranean Sea exists, with activity based on the fishing and the transport of the salt; as well as a leisure port with a large number of berths. There is another marina in the Mar Menor next to the fish market and the fishermen's wharf .