During the pandemic, my mother abandoned the gloom of Manchester for the Spanish coast, and you probably don’t need me to explain why. She gets to walk by the sea and enjoy the sunshine every day (well, almost every day – it does rain occasionally, much to her distress). The good news for me is that I now have a very convenient getaway destination when I too need some sea and sun! However, the Orihuela Costa where she lives is quite different from my usual holiday locations. She lives in a small town with a lot of retirees from the UK, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia. Transport connections are quite poor (there isn’t even a trainline!), and there is no real vegan scene to speak of. But still, the sun, sea, and my beloved mother are enough to lure me over, and we have managed to find a few good meals.

The Hen’s Teeth in Villamartin is one of the few places I’ve seen with mock meat on the menu, so this was pretty exciting. They had very clearly labelled vegan options and sections on their menu, and I felt very confident ordering here (this will not be a common trend here, alas). It was a deep fried chicken skewer, which I enjoyed very much. The chips were also nice and crisp, and the roasted vegetables were a fun touch. I’d recommend this place. However, if you don’t have a car and aren’t staying in this area, it may be a bit of a mission to get there – it’s a little tricky to find accurate information about bus routes and times.

There is a fully vegetarian restaurant in Torrevieja, one of the bigger towns in this area. Beet Vegetariano has a few vegan dishes on the menu, along with some veganisable ones, and it’s another of the few places in this area where I felt confident that they did understand what vegan means. I got a burrito, which was nice and quite filling, with lots of vegetables and some good guac on the side, but it all felt a bit underseasoned. Everything was fine, but I wish the food had been a bit more special. Nevertheless, I’ll be back, because there’s not much competition and it’s good to support a meat-free eatery. As a bonus, Torrevieja is one of the places it’s a bit easier to get in and out of, because it’s quite a hub and so there are more buses to other towns in the area.

Makai Cafe in Playa Flamenca has a few vegan options on the menu, including a full breakfast and a wrap. I’ve had the full breakfast, which came with some non-vegan butter, so definitely check before you tuck into that in particular. In the absence of any spread, I fashioned myself an avocado toast, which worked really nicely. It was a hearty breakfast – not mind blowing (you may be noticing a theme here), but very pleasant after a long walk on the beach. A second hash brown would always be welcome, but no major complaints.

Zenia Garden Asian Restaurant in Playa Flamenca doesn’t have any labelled vegan options, but the staff have told me before that some of the vegetarian dishes are also vegan. The vegetable spring rolls are vegan, and they’re always good and crispy. All the dishes listed under “vegetarian dishes” on the menu are also vegan, so I’m told – I always go for the fried tofu with mixed vegetables. The tofu chunks are really nice, and there’s usually quite a good variety of vegetables. It is quite an oily dish, and quite generous too, so I usually take half home with me for the next day.

You can find some labelled vegan options at Willow Café in Playa Flamenca. I’ve been told they occasionally do vegan cake, though there was none when I visited. I got the vegan falafel wrap, which would have been great except that there were quite large bits of chilli in (you can see a few pieces in this picture). It was significantly more ferocious than I would have liked! Also, I wasn’t convinced that the coleslaw would be vegan, so I avoided it just to be safe (though the menu did mention vegan mayo, so it may well have been fine).

While it can be a bit of a struggle when eating out, vegan options are plentiful in the supermarkets. There’s a big Alcampo in Zenia Boulevard which has lots of great food – there’s plant milks aplenty, including Oatly Barista sometimes, and quite a few Heura mock meat products in the chilled section (along with things like tofu and a few other brands of meat-free products). There’s Alpro yoghurts and ice cream, and vegan Magnums too. So if you have a kitchen, you’ll definitely be fine.

It does seem like the vegan options are slowly increasing in the two years I’ve been visiting – so hopefully there’ll be a part two of this coming soon with some more exciting options. But for now, there are enough options to get by!