Torre del Mar has a lot of atmosphere and local flavour with numerous shops, restaurants (including some very good fish and seadfood restaurants) and bars. A 500 metre seafront stretch, called El Copo, is a continual line of bars and discotheques which are open until 6 o'clock every morning in the summer and at weekends during the winter.

Along the next piece of seafront there is a summer night market open until 3.00h every morning. In July and August the town is a holiday venue to mostly Spanish tourists.

The origins of Torre del Mar go back to at least the Phoenicians. Sites discovered include an 8th century BC 'Town of Toscanos' where there are remains of fish factories, a port and several houses, and a necropolis at Jardín. The town takes its name - Tower of the Sea - from the many watch towers that used to guard the coast in Roman and Moorish times.