Port Saplaya

Port Saplaya, also known as Port Sa Platja in Valenciá, is a development built in the ’70s to provide an escape destination out of the city but within sight of the city. It is also València’s little Venice and you just knew they’d have one, didn’t you? If they can have their little Alhambra and their little Sistine Chapel (which I’m yet to visit but it is just around the corner), little Venice was inevitable.

On a sunny (though not yet warm) January afternoon, we piled up into the car to get out of the city ourselves. I was always intrigued by the buildings visible from the beach and looking north so it was great to finally be able to check them out. Ewa and I considered going there a while back when we first found out about this place, but the bus service to and from Port Saplaya seemed impossible on the weekends so we gave up on the idea. Theoretically, we could have walked there, it’s only about 3km away from Cabanyal, but walking along the waterfront can get tricky when there are rivers to cross. Going by car was a lot easier.

There aren’t many roads in and out of the complex; Port Saplaya was built to be accessible by water, not road, and all the internal parts are pedestrian-access only. There is parking underneath for all residents but when it comes to visitor parking, it’s not great. Even though it was built as a resort, there seem to be many permanent residents here now, many of whom work in València proper, though I wonder how many of them commute by boat. I just can’t see that as being very practical plus I saw way more sailboats than motor boats and those aren’t known for being quick to operate.

I think we picked a really good time to go there: the afternoon sun low on the horizon added real depth to the already colourful façades. The apartments with any kind of view really do have a great one but some of the internal ones should have their design questioned. Why would anyone want to live in such a cool development and yet have no view whatsoever? It would have been nice to be able to visit some of the units to see if the architects of the ’70s were (hopefully) more playful and cognizant of space needs than their precursors in the ’60s. They definitely could have made windows bigger but maybe that’s just me. And maybe in the heat of August having smaller windows is a good thing? I don’t know … but I’d still have made them larger.

The townhouses (in the European sense, not Canadian) were much more interesting. I think having one of those would actually be quite cool, and there were some for sale. A green one was available and Sagrario was quick to point out that I’d probably not like it since it’s green (earlier I had mentioned my dislike of the colour green being used in clothing or architecture … or cars … or pretty much anything that’s not nature, with the exception of a specific forest green in old-fashioned rooms and the British racing green on a little MG, but I digress) but I had to remind her that it is possible to repaint it, which I would immediately do if I bought it. I think yellow would have suited it quite well. Or blue. Or anything that’s not green or pink. I really did love all the different colours throughout the complex, and the sun made them all especially radiant. Everywhere I looked, I saw a postcard view.

As we walked around the internal marina, we came across a lovely English Bullterrier doggo patiently watching his human work on his boat. Since it was impossible not to stop and pet him, we also struck up a conversation with the man who turned out to be a Russian who fairly recently took up residence in València and was into buying, restoring, and selling boats. His pup, Baron, was his faithful companion though he wasn’t overly excited about being on the boats, yet. The Russian was pleasantly surprised that not only was I not scared of his dog, I actually knew all about this breed and was very fond it. I have no idea why people think they’re ugly; they’re one of the nicest breeds out there and I’m very happy to have met Baron. Happy sailings, doggo!

After walking around all of Port Saplaya, we went across the road to the beach where we saw a few surfers trying their luck on the waves. I also looked back towards València to see how much of it I could see and there, in the haze, were the cranes of the port, not looking all that far away at all. I can see the appeal of this place were it not for an absolute need of either car or boat (or both) to live comfortably. The views are amazing, the place is quaint but not gimmicky, and it definitely has a little of the feel of Venice without the crowds or smell. Whether they have a good Italian restaurant, however, I do not know. You can read a bit more about it here but let me warn you, it’s a sales site.

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On the way back I mentioned reading something about forgotten places that were cool to photograph one of which was this round building that supposed to have been abandoned years ago but people could sneak in to explore it. Intrigued by that prospect, and the fact that we had just driven by it, we decided to investigate. Already from afar it looked interesting; its undulating shape broken up by very geometric windows and rainbow colours shouted us to come and see for ourselves. So we detoured into the neighbourhood of Alboraia and parked. To our disappointment, however there didn’t seem to be any way inside. Once we walked all the way around, we did manage to find an entrance which looked much less “abandoned” than we had expected. Curious about it we walked in and were immediately told to get the heck out because nobody was allowed in, which was rather strange since the doors opened for us automatically, the lobby looked very inviting, and there was clearly life inside. The guard, however, decided he was going to use the little power he had and be very unpleasant to us, rudely answering Sagrario (or rather not answering but telling her to leave) when all she did was ask politely about the building. It was a rather bizarre experience, even for her, because until now everywhere we’ve been people have been so nice and friendly and willing to answer questions. All I can say is that man must have been having a really crappy day that day and yes, I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt and not think he was just an asshole. I’m feeling charitable today, I guess. And all I wanted was to take a picture of the cool wall treatment they had in the lobby.

As we left and headed back to the car, we noticed that there was a new sign in the windows: Hotel Boome Patacona and, as I dug into this a bit more, I have found that it is going to be opening soon after over two years of refurbishing and after being abandoned for many years before. I think it’s a very interesting structure and Google Maps shows internally it is made up of two connected cylinders with open inner courtyards. If that security guard hadn’t been so terribly rude, I would consider staying there a night just to see what it’s like. Too bad he was, though; all I’ll ever have of it are some really cool pictures. Customer service, folks, it’s important!