Little-known Spanish town with Australian-like pink lake which can be visited for £40
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If money is tight at the moment but you're dying to get away, a little-known Spanish gem could save your day.
The site of the Australian-like pink lake is similar to the body of water in Westgate Park, Melbourne, which turns a pretty shade of pink during the summer months.
The colour itself is formed by a large quantity of salt mixed with other ingredients.
The colour then forms in the salt's crust at the bottom, creating a reddish pigment as part of its photosynthesis process.
However, Brits don't need to travel all the way to Australia to see a pink lake.
Located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante is a seaside city called Torrevieja.
Despite having a small population of 82,599, the city is home to the wonderful Las Salinas de Torrevieja - aka the Pink Lake of Torrevieja.
The romantic-looking lake is quite possibly one of the most picturesque/instagrammable sights you'll ever see.
With a beautiful pink-bubblegum tint, the water is as bright as a strawberry milkshake, but can take on different shades throughout the day.
However, the reason why the water is so pink is nowhere near as romantic as you'd like to think.
Don't worry - there's no unnatural ingredients involved - but there is a whole lot of bacteria and algae to keep in mind.
There's two ingredients that make the water pink and that's Halobacterium and a micro-algae called Dunaliella salina.
Both of the substances are largely present in salty places, yet when you mix the two together you get 50 shades of pink.
Although the thought of swimming in a load of bacteria is pretty spine-tingling, you'll be pleased to know you are not allowed in certain parts of the water because the lake is actually a 'working salt evaporation plant'.
One local said: "It is not a resort. You can get to the water's edge, by it across a dirt track, and there are plenty of mosquitos, It's also illegal to enter the water, and if the police catch you there's up to €600 fine.
"Having said that, people do come down here to slap the mineral-rich mud on themselves and take some mineral-rich salt water.
"This is the healthiest place in Spain, because of all the minerals in the air."
A tourist from Cardiff also thought: "Beautiful place. Lucky to have this on our doorstep in our villa.
"WARNING if you attract mosquitoes... you'll be bitten alive if you don't take precautions. Lots of deet spray and cover up whilst you walk through the reeds.
"Also take bottles of water just to rinse off after coming out of the lake."
Another visitor said: "The history of the lake is amazing and the view is extraordinary. We were lucky that on the day we went it was windy so it cooled us down, we also didn't get any mosquito bites because of the wind. This environment is amazing and they open up a little shop at the end of the tour so you can buy some salt and souvenirs."
Flights to Torrevieja are as little as £40 via Ryanair (at the time of writing) if you were to go from April 22, back on April 24.
If you're willing, it's definitely worth checking out.
