The paseo marítimo is where Torrevieja's daily life plays out. It runs for several kilometres along the seafront, connecting the town centre beaches, the port, and the marina in a continuous strip of pavement, terrace bars, restaurants, and the evening flow of people that any self-respecting Spanish town generates. In summer it runs late into the night; in winter it is calmer but rarely empty, kept lively by the large permanent population of Spanish residents and northern European retirees who actually live here rather than visiting. The light in the late afternoon, with the sun low over the salt lake behind the town, is particularly good.
The promenade is also where you find Torrevieja's habaneras tradition at its most visible. The habanera — a song form with roots in 19th-century Cuba, brought back by sailors who traded salt for tropical goods — is taken seriously here, and during the August festival period the paseo fills with singers performing in the open air near the Casino del Mar. On ordinary summer evenings, informal groups gather at favourite spots along the promenade to sing. It sounds like a peculiarity invented for tourists; it predates tourism by more than a century. Walk the full length of the promenade in the late afternoon, past the Submarino Delfín and the Casino building, and you will have seen most of what makes Torrevieja distinctive in a single hour.