Bar Restaurante Grupo Varela

Grupo Varela holds a front row position on the Levante promenade, with the terrace turned towards the water. It is one of the seafront addresses with the most movement in the town, and the reason is the timetable as much as the food.

The bar runs continuously, so you can have a coffee in the morning, shellfish at two, a beer at six and dinner at ten in the same place without ever finding the shutters half down. For anyone staying on this side of the beach that is worth more than a menu, because it removes the single most common frustration a foreign visitor has in Spain.

Prices sit a little above the neighbourhood houses, which is what a first line terrace costs anywhere on this coast. It closes on Tuesdays. My own habit here is to skip the full meal and order a plate of shellfish at the bar in the middle of the afternoon, when the terrace is empty and the view is the same.