Holiday apartment in Alcantarilla: Huerta culture and waterways

Alcantarilla is home to Huerta culture, hydraulic structures, festivals and art venues. The Museo de la Huerta de Alcantarilla has an immersive 360-degree projection room in which content is projected simultaneously onto four walls and the floor.

Culture and history

The museum tour is accessible to everyone and features tactile flooring, Braille signage and QR codes that supplement the information and content. The Museo de la Huerta also conveys the life and customs of the Huertanos through a typical barraca, the Noria de Alcantarilla, agricultural equipment, ceramics and glassware, fans and historical costumes.

Another facet of the town is revealed by the Ruta de Arte Urbano de Alcantarilla. It can be visited as part of a guided tour and includes more than 60 murals by local, national and international artists. The route runs from Parque del Acueducto to Plaza Adolfo Suárez.

Religious and historic buildings include the neo-Baroque Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de la Asunción in the Barrio de Campoamor and its two towers, which are considered one of the landmarks of Alcantarilla. The Iglesia de San Roque is the oldest church in the town and dates from the late 18th century. It houses the authentic and certified Lignum Crucis, a relic containing two splinters of the Holy Cross.

The former Iglesia de San Pedro Apóstol was built from the mid-16th century onwards and, together with Plaza de la Iglesia, shaped the old town of Alcantarilla from the 16th century onwards. After the former temple was demolished in 1961, the present-day Iglesia Parroquial de San Pedro Apóstol was built on the same site; only the Capilla de la Aurora remains from the former church. Casa Cayitas was declared a National Historic-Artistic Monument on 24 July 1982.

Water and landscape

The Acueducto de los Arcos consists of three connected aqueducts. They carry the irrigation channels Alquibla, Turbedal and Dava over the outlet of the Rambla de las Zorreras to the Río Segura. The structure dates from the 11th to the 13th century. An aqueduct in Alcantarilla preserves 22 arches today and is still used for irrigation.

The Acueducto de las Zorreras stands in the Agua Salá area. It is 8.5 metres high and is still used to carry water across the rambla. The Noria de Alcantarilla has been in operation since the 15th century and serves to irrigate higher-lying areas in Alcantarilla. Its wheel can be viewed from outside the museum without entering it. The Acequia del Turbedal is also one of the defining hydraulic structures and is designated as a Bien de Interés Cultural.

Parque del Acueducto is a 43,700-square-metre green space in Alcantarilla. It is also home to a Roman archaeological site dating from the 1st to the 3rd century AD. The Ruta del Agua is an easy, two-hour circular route that passes irrigation channels, aqueducts, waterwheels, a chapel, a museum, playgrounds and a rest area with tables and barbecue facilities, combining nature, culture and leisure.

Alcantarilla can be connected to Murcia by bicycle via the Vía Amable. It offers a sustainable way to discover the environmental, cultural and landscape features of the Huerta murciana and is used less by motor vehicles than conventional roads.

Festivals and religious traditions

Alcantarilla lies on the Levante pilgrimage route of the Camino de la Vera Cruz, on the section between Murcia and Alguazas. The patron-saint festivities in honour of the Virgen de la Salud take place every year in May and are classified as festivals of regional tourist interest.

The Fiestas de Mayo de Alcantarilla include more than 40 cultural events in public streets and spaces. The Ermita de Nuestra Señora de la Salud, also known as Virgen Niña, is the destination of the traditional Romería during these fiestas. The festival folklore also includes the “Quema de la Bruja”; the first records of the Bruja date from 1987.

Alcantarilla also has its own culinary designation: La Huertana is a typical tapa from Alcantarilla, served in the town’s bars and restaurants. The Archicofradía of Alcantarilla has organised the town’s Corpus Christi procession since time immemorial. Thanks to a papal dispensation, this procession takes place in the afternoon.

More local pages to choose from: San Pedro Del Pinatar, La Escucha, Fuente Amarga, El Sabinar, Caravaca De La Cruz, Henares, Atamaria, San Ginés.

For the higher-level travel overview: Murcia.