Things to do in Villajoyosa

Local guide

About Villajoyosa

La Vila Joiosa, «La Vila» to its residents, is the capital of the Marina Baixa and a town that has always lived facing the sea. It has a strong fishing tradition, and today its economy stands out for two very different things: tourism and the chocolate industry. The old town stands on a hill that was once an Iberian settlement, and the walls that still stand were designed in the time of Philip II to defend the coast against Barbary raids.

That history of threats from the sea is at the root of its big summer fiesta. The Moros y Cristianos in honour of Santa Marta, from 24 to 31 July, recall the attack of 1538 and include the Desembarc (landing): in the early hours of the 28th, the Moorish troops leave the harbour in 35 galleys and «land» on the beach, where the Christians wait for them amid gunpowder and arquebuses, until the image of Santa Marta appears on the horizon.

La Vila also has a Roman past. The Roman town of Allon stood here, and from that era remain the Torre de Hércules, a Roman funerary tower about three kilometres from the centre declared a Site of Cultural Interest in 1990, and, under the sea, the Bou Ferrer wreck, a large Roman ship with its cargo of amphorae. All of this is easier to understand at Vilamuseu, the municipal museum, founded in 1973 with donations from local residents.

The defensive landscape is completed by watchtowers such as the 16th-century Torre del Aguiló, and the town keeps house museums such as the Barbera dels Aragonés. On Thursdays the street market fills the fairground in the centre, and the TRAM connects the town with Benidorm and Alicante. La Vila combines beach, heritage and fiesta without losing its seafaring character.

Things to do

Must-see places

1. Vilamuseu: the municipal museum, with archaeology, ethnography and palaeontology collections from La Vila.
2. Torre de Hércules: Roman funerary tower about 3 km from the centre, a Site of Cultural Interest since 1990.
3. Pecio Bou Ferrer: underwater site of a large Roman ship and its cargo of amphorae.
4. Torre del Aguiló: 16th-century watchtower in the coastal defence system against piracy.
5. Casa Museo la Barbera dels Aragonés: house museum in La Vila's municipal museum network.
6. Mercadillo de los jueves: mixed market of food and other goods at the fairground in the centre.