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Plaza de la Constitución, its ficus trees and the twin bell towers of San Andrés in Almoradí
Reviewed August 2026
Almoradi Info

Almoradí: a rebuilt town at the heart of the Vega Baja

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Almoradí is a working market town on the north bank of the River Segura, near the centre of the Vega Baja and about 15 kilometres from Orihuela. It has a population a little above 20,000. Almost nothing in the town centre is older than 1829, because in that year an earthquake destroyed Almoradí and it was rebuilt from almost nothing on a new plan.

The 1829 earthquake and the grid

On 21 March 1829 a strong earthquake centred in the Vega Baja, and often named after nearby Torrevieja, levelled Almoradí. Contemporary accounts describe barely a building left standing and around 200 dead. The older street plan, inherited from the medieval and Andalusi town, went with it.

Reconstruction was directed by José Agustín de Larramendi, regarded as the first Spanish civil engineer, who was sent from Madrid to survey the damage across the comarca. For Almoradí he designed an orthogonal town: a central square with straight, wide streets crossing at right angles. The width was deliberate. Larramendi had seen how narrow streets filled with rubble as houses fell against one another, and he built Almoradí to give people room to escape a future shock. The result is the calm, regular centre that survives today, focused on Plaza de la Constitución and the Church of San Andrés.

After the disaster the town placed itself under the protection of San Emigdio, a saint invoked against earthquakes. A short rogation is still said each 21 March, and the main San Emigdio celebrations, with a Renaissance-costume parade, take place in early August.

San Andrés, the Casino and the theatre

The Church of San Andrés closes one side of Plaza de la Constitución. It is a nineteenth-century building with a long rendered nave and a symmetrical front carrying two square bell towers, and it replaced the temple lost in 1829. The square itself is shaded by mature ficus trees which give the centre its permanent canopy.

Two other buildings carry the town's civic life. The Casino is a nineteenth-century social club, and the Teatro Cortés is a restored theatre still used for performances. Alongside agriculture, Almoradí has a long-established furniture industry, and its large Saturday market draws shoppers from across the district for fresh produce.

Water and the artichoke

Almoradí lives from its huerta. Water from the Segura is managed by one of the old irrigation courts of the Vega Baja, the water court of the Azud de Alfeitamí, whose standing as a body with its own jurisdiction goes back to a royal grant of 1583. These courts allot irrigation turns and settle disputes between the growers who share the channels, a system descended directly from Andalusi practice.

The signature crop is the artichoke. The alcachofa of the Vega Baja is closely identified with Almoradí, which holds a national artichoke congress on the first weekend of March. Plaza de la Constitución fills for a communal roast of artichokes over open fire while local restaurants serve dishes built around the vegetable. A heritage walking and cycling route, the Ruta del Agua, links the irrigation channels, the water court and restored stretches of riverbank south of the town.

Visiting Almoradí

  • The centre is compact. Plaza de la Constitución, San Andrés, the Casino and the Teatro Cortés are all within a few minutes of each other.
  • Saturday morning, with the market running, is the best time to see the town at its busiest.
  • The Ruta del Agua adds a longer walk or ride out into the huerta.

For the wider picture, the Rojales water heritage guide explains the same irrigation system where it crosses the river, and Benijófar shows the smaller-village version of the same huerta story a few kilometres downstream.

Sources and review

Reviewed in August 2026 using the Comunitat Valenciana tourism service, Almoradí's municipal heritage catalogue, the town's Museo del Terremoto and reporting on the 1829 Vega Baja earthquake and its bicentenary. Festival dates and market days change, so check current local information before travelling.