Travesía Clara Morales — Valencia

The approach to the coast of Alboraya reveals the wide sweep of the Mediterranean, with the horizon dominated by the urban silhouette of Valencia. Driving toward the Playa de la Patacona, the sea air carries the scent of the salt flats and the proximity of the Albufera wetlands, a critical ecological area designated by the Ramsar Convention. As you arrive at the Plaza Joan Baptista Basset, the starting point for the 1500m and 3000m events, you stand on a shoreline that has served as a strategic maritime front for millennia. The city itself, established as the Roman colony of Valentia in 138 BC by Decimus Junius Brutus Callaicus, was named to signify the strength of the legions who defeated the Lusitanian rebels. This legacy of defense is etched into the very geography you will navigate; the threat of 16th-century Barbary pirates once forced the coastline to be heavily fortified, a history that evolved into the rise of local Christian corsairs who used these waters as a primary base of operations.

What you will see from the water

Once you enter the water, the architectural timeline of the coast comes into view. To the south, the modernist structure of the San Juan de Dios Hospital stands in the Malvarrosa district, a former children's sanatorium that remains a landmark for those swimming along the coast. Near the edge of the sand, you can distinguish the historic chalet that served as the home of the writer Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, now a declared monument. While the race maintains a focus on the present, the echoes of the 1706 capture of the city by the Earl of Peterborough remind us that these waters have witnessed centuries of shifting political control, from the Napoleonic sieges to the modern development of the Veles e Vents building. The water conditions here are typical of the Gulf of Valencia, though swimmers should remain mindful of the volatile nature of local seasonal watercourses, such as the Barranco del Poyo, which can influence coastal currents after heavy rainfall.

Race day logistics

The Travesía Clara Morales, organized by the Ayto. de Alboraya and Club Natación Patacona, takes place on September 27, 2026. The event offers distances of 300m, 1500m, and 3000m. Registration fees are tiered, ranging from 20 to 28 EUR depending on the distance and the date of entry. The start is scheduled between 09:15 and 09:30, with a shorter 300m race for children starting at 11:00. Those seeking a different rhythm in the region may consider the XI Travesía Pobla de Farnals, held earlier in the season on June 7, which offers a distinct perspective on the northern stretch of the Valencian coast.