Espacios Abiertos e Islas del Mar Menor

Espacios Abiertos e Islas del Mar Menor ("Open Spaces and Islands of the Mar Menor") is a network of protected areas spread across and around the Mar Menor, the saltwater lagoon known as the "little sea," located in the Region of Murcia on Spain's southeastern coast. The protected area covers open spaces and islands situated within and around the lagoon itself, forming a mosaic of coastal and aquatic habitats.

Where exactly does it stretch across?

The protected area is not confined to a single town — it extends along the coastline and waters of three municipalities bordering the Mar Menor: Cartagena, San Javier, and Los Alcázares. This arrangement means the conservation effort treats the lagoon as a single connected ecosystem rather than protecting isolated fragments tied to just one location.

What is its protection status?

Espacios Abiertos e Islas del Mar Menor is designated as a Protected Landscape (the Mar Menor Protected Landscape) and forms part of the European Natura 2000 network. It is additionally listed as a Site of Community Importance (LIC — Lugar de Importancia Comunitaria), a formal European Union recognition of its ecological value. This dual status — a national-level protected landscape combined with an EU-level LIC designation under Natura 2000 — places the site's significance beyond the purely local, situating it within a broader European framework for habitat conservation.

Why is the Mar Menor itself so distinctive?

The Mar Menor lagoon, around and within which this protected area is arranged, is separated from the Mediterranean Sea by the narrow La Manga sandbar, making it one of the largest saltwater lagoons of its kind in Europe. It is precisely this distinctive geography — a largely enclosed body of water connected to the open sea only through narrow channels — that made the islands and open spaces within it a candidate for coordinated, cross-municipal protection rather than piecemeal local designations.

What should visitors based in Los Alcázares know?

Los Alcázares, one of the three municipalities covered by this protected area, sits directly on the shore of the Mar Menor, giving visitors staying there direct proximity to the lagoon's protected spaces and islands without needing to travel far along the coast. The site's inclusion in Natura 2000 and its LIC listing signal that the surrounding coastal and aquatic areas are subject to particular conservation rules.

Frequently asked questions

How is this different from an ordinary beach on the Mar Menor? It is not a single beach but a formally protected landscape covering open spaces and islands across the whole lagoon, registered under the Natura 2000 network and listed as a Site of Community Importance.

Which municipalities does the protection cover? Cartagena, San Javier, and Los Alcázares — the three coastal municipalities surrounding the Mar Menor lagoon.

What does the LIC designation mean? Lugar de Importancia Comunitaria is an EU-level designation for a site of particular importance for habitat conservation within the Natura 2000 network.