I
The territory and the origin of the huerta
Two thousand years of relations between Alicante and the sea, and the shaping of the farmland fed by the Tibi reservoir.
Albufereta · Alicante · MDXCIV
Torre Sarrió — Interpretation Centre of the Watchtowers of the Huerta
Four centuries watching over Alicante's Huerta. Today, the gateway to the largest surviving complex of defensive towers in Spain.
Independent educational project — not an official channel of Alicante City Hall, the Provincial Council or MARQ.
1594
Year inscribed on the talus
«PERE LLOPIS»
25
Towers still standing
of the 43 documented
3
Floors and terrace
over a vaulted semi-basement
2026
Opening of the centre
8 July · City Hall + MARQ
A tower, a network, a landscape
The stone memory of Alicante's huerta.
Built in 1594 by Pere Llopis —whose name and date can still be read carved on the talus—, the Torre Sarrió is part of the network of watch, refuge and defence towers raised between the 15th and 17th centuries in Alicante's Huerta to face the raids of the Barbary pirates.
Restored in 2009 under the direction of the architect Màrius Bevià after decades of neglect and fires, the tower was rehabilitated in two phases up to 2021. In July 2026 it opened to the public as the Interpretation Centre of the Watchtowers of the Huerta, a joint project of Alicante City Hall, the Provincial Council and MARQ, funded by Next Generation funds and the Tourism Sustainability Plans.
Three thematic blocks
The museography, by Rocamora Diseño y Arquitectura with content from MARQ and Fundación MARQ, articulates the narrative around three axes.
II
Towers, refuge and defence
Loopholes, machicolations and battlements against the corsair. Daily life under threat and the alerts passed between towers.
III
The ennobling of the huerta
Stately houses built alongside the towers: when defence became a symbol of prosperity and status.
«The wealth of our huerta had a counterpart in the raids of North African corsairs: the farmers needed to protect themselves, and so this unique network of towers took shape.»
Are there Moors on the coast?
When the Mediterranean was a frontier.
Barbarossa, Dragut, Arraéz… The names of the Ottoman and Barbary corso marked the life of the Alicante coast for two centuries. The towers replied with fire and smoke: a chain of alerts linking the huerta with the castle of Santa Bárbara.
Read the full story →Where to find it
At the heart of the Albufereta.
The tower stands next to Glorieta Carolina Pascual, at the corner of Miriam Blasco and Vía Parque, a few metres from the Roman site of Lucentum and Albufereta beach. In the 16th century it stood on the road linking the Águilas and Santiago towers with the Ciprés tower.
