San Javier unveils new heritage and cultural displays in English
Visitors can now follow a route of monuments through San Javier with bilingual content and QR codes
San Javier is making it easier than ever for visitors and locals to explore its history and culture. The town has just launched a series of striking Corten steel panels installed outside six of its most emblematic buildings and monuments, each one telling part of San Javier’s story.
Presented by the Councillor for Tourism, Estíbaliz Masegosa, together with the Councillor for Culture, David Martínez, the initiative is designed to help people connect with the heritage and identity of San Javier.
These panels “allow visitors to better understand our history, our cultural spaces and the soul of San Javier,” said CouncillorMasegosa.
The six new displays can be found outside the Municipal Museum, the Town Hall, the Church of San Francisco Javier, the Music Conservatory, Almansa Park and two well-known sculptures: “Melpómene” by Juan José Quirós, a tribute to the theatre, and the “Patrulla Águila” by sculptor Manuel Páez.
Each marker includes clear, bilingual explanations in Spanish and English, as well as QR codes linking directly to the town’s tourism website, where additional content is available.
“Offering a more complete and digital experience,” explained Estíbaliz Masegosa, who also noted that the aesthetics are in line with the Museo Aeronáutico Tiflológico (MAT) in Santiago de la Ribera. Improvements to the MAT’s information panels are also planned.
For his part, Councillor for Culture David Martínez highlighted the goal of the initiative:
“This initiative aims to highlight not only our heritage but also our identity and history.”
He added that the project “will allow people who walk through the historic centre to get an idea of the origins of the municipality and which current buildings, some with different uses than their original ones, narrate important pages of our history.”
Among the details included on the panels is the reminder that the current Municipal Museum preserves the structure and main exterior elements of the original mid-20th-century Barracks House. The Church of San Francisco Javier, dating from the 17th century, was probably built on the site of a late 16th-century church at the crossroads where the municipality was founded.
In the case of the Conservatory, the text explains that it was originally a Public School for boys and girls, designed by the prestigious architect Pedro Celdrán, whose exterior façade is still preserved today.
The initiative will expand in the future with new displays planned for Santiago de la Ribera and La Manga del Mar Menor. It is funded by European resources within the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, forming part of the San Javier Sustainable Tourism Plan and coordinated with the Region of Murcia Tourism Institute.
For more local information go to the home page of San Javier Today
Address
Calle Padre Juan. Centro Cultural Principe de Asturias 30720 SAN JAVIERTel: 968 571 704
Oficina de Turismo de San Javier
The municipality of San Javier has three main offices giving tourist information to visitors, as well as two information points. The tourist offices are located in Santiago de la Ribera, on the ground floor of the town hall in San Javier and at the start of La Manga. There is also a summer tourist information point located on the seafront in Santiago de la Ribera as well as one at kilometre 12-13 of La Manga del Mar Menor next to Playa Mistral.
Due to its location on the fringes of the Mar Menor and Mediterranean, San Javier has a period of intense summer tourism activity during the peak summer months, although it is popular with retirees of all nationalities out of peak season.
Tickets for the annual San Javier Jazz Festival can be purchased at the Festival office in San Javier Town Hall, Plaza de España.
Timetables summer 2024:
Tourist office Santiago de la Ribera (Calle Padre Juan 30720, Santiago de la Ribera)
Weekdays 9.00 to 14.00 and 18.00 to 21.00
Weekends and public holidays 10.00 to 13.00
Telephone: 661 572285
Email: turismo@sanjavier.es
La Manga del Mar Menor (Gran Vía Km. 0 30380, La Manga del Mar Menor):
May 1 to September 30:
Weekdays 10.00 to 14.00 and 17.00 to 19.00
Weekends and public holidays 10.30 to 13.00
Telephone 968 128955 ext. 2
Tourist information point of San Javier (Plaza de España, 30730 San Javier):
Weekdays 9.00 to 14.00
968 573 700 ext #5351
Email: concejaliadeturismo@sanjavier.es
Tourist information point of Santiago de la Ribera (Paseo Colón on the seafront)
Weekdays 9.00 to 14.00 and 18.00 to 21.00
Weekends and public holidays 10.00 to 13.00
Tourist information point of La Manga del Mar Menor (Playa Mistral, km 12)
Weekdays 11.00 to 18.00
Weekends and public holidays 11.00 to 14.00
