Few buildings on the Costa Blanca draw as many people as La Muralla Roja. You have probably seen it already, even if you didn't know its name: the staircases in shades of pink and red, the narrow walkways, the flat blue sky cut into clean geometric pieces. It sits on the cliffs of La Manzanera in Calpe, a short walk from the sea, and it looks a little like a dream someone had about the Mediterranean.
We have spent many slow afternoons around it, camera in hand, and the same questions come up again and again. Can you go inside? Is there a ticket? When is the light at its softest? Here is what we know, so you can plan a visit that is calm, respectful and worth the journey.
A little history
La Muralla Roja, "the red wall", was designed by the Catalan architect Ricardo Bofill. It was designed in 1968 and completed in 1973. Bofill drew on the casbahs of North Africa and the older Arab architecture of the Mediterranean, and you can feel it as soon as you step close: the building is less a block of flats and more a small walled village, with stairs, bridges and courtyards folded into one another.
The colours are not decoration for its own sake. The outer walls are in reds and pinks, which stand out against the dry, earthy landscape around them. The inner courtyards are painted in blues that echo the sky and the sea, and violet is used on staircases and bridges. It is this conversation between warm and cool that makes the building so easy to fall for.
Inside are 50 apartments, from studios to three-bedroom homes, with roof terraces and a swimming pool reserved for residents. In recent years the building has appeared in music videos and fashion shoots, and its stairways are often said to have inspired the set design of Netflix's Squid Game.
Can you visit La Muralla Roja?
This is the most important thing to know before you go: La Muralla Roja is a private residential building, and it is not open to the public. There are no tickets, no opening hours and no way to simply walk in. People live here, and the community has had to tighten access because of the number of visitors arriving at the door.
That leaves you with a few gentle options.
See it from the outside. You can admire and photograph the building from the public areas around it. The outer walls, the way it steps down towards the cliff and its view over to the Peñón de Ifach are all part of the experience, and you don't need to cross a single threshold to enjoy them.
Join a free guided walk. Calpe's tourism office runs free guided walks around the Bofill buildings in La Manzanera, usually starting from the Casa de Cultura in town. The route takes in the outside of La Muralla Roja along with Bofill's other buildings nearby, such as Xanadú. The walks are mostly in Spanish, with some English dates in summer, and places are limited, so book ahead through the Calpe tourist office. Dates change from season to season, so check before you travel.
Stay in one of the apartments. Some owners let their apartments as holiday rentals. Staying the night is the only way most of us will see the courtyards and stairways from the inside. If you do, follow the building's own rules and your host's instructions, and remember that your neighbours are at home.
Take the virtual tour. In 2025 Calpe launched an official virtual visit, made from 3D scans of the building. It is a lovely way to explore the parts that stay private, especially if you can't travel this year.
How to get there
La Muralla Roja is in the La Manzanera area of Calpe, on the coast a little way from the town centre. If you are staying in town, the nicest way to arrive is on foot. A coastal walk runs from Arenal-Bol beach towards Cala Manzanera, and local guides suggest it takes around 25 minutes each way to reach the Bofill buildings. You'll pass the sea on one side the whole way, which makes the arrival feel earned.
If you drive, park considerately in the surrounding streets and walk the last part. The roads in La Manzanera are residential, and blocking an entrance or a driveway is the quickest way to make visitors less welcome.
Photographing La Muralla Roja
The building is a gift for photographers, but a few simple rules keep it that way for everyone.
- Stay on public ground. Don't climb walls, enter terraces or step past gates.
- Don't point your camera into homes. Windows and private balconies are not part of the view.
- Leave the drone at home. Drones are not allowed over the building.
- Ask first for anything professional. Commercial shoots and filming need permission from the building's management in advance.
For light, early morning and late afternoon are kindest. The midday sun can flatten the colours and throw hard black shadows, while the softer hours bring out the dusty pinks and let the shadows fall long and gentle across the walls. On a clear day, look for the places where a single pink edge meets the blue sky. Some of our favourite pictures are nothing more than that: one line, two colours, and a lot of quiet.
Make a day of it
La Muralla Roja pairs well with an easy, unhurried day in Calpe. Walk the coast path from Arenal-Bol, look out for Bofill's Xanadú with its stacked, tower-like form, then head back into town for a long lunch. If you still have energy, the Peñón de Ifach rises out of the sea at the other end of the bay and is beautiful at sunset, even if you only see it from the beach.
Go slowly. The building rewards people who stand still for a while and let their eyes adjust to its shapes and colours.
Bringing La Muralla Roja home
We first photographed La Muralla Roja because we couldn't stop thinking about it, and our collection has grown from there. Pink Staircase is the angle most people recognise: soft pink steps climbing into a pale blue sky. The Labyrinth looks down into the narrow walkways and captures that casbah feeling of hidden turns. For something less expected, Blue Wall shows the cobalt and violet of the upper levels, and Pink & Olive softens the geometry with the silvery green of an olive tree.
If you'd like the building to fill a whole wall, the La Muralla Roja Gallery Wall set brings together pinks, reds and blues from different corners of the building, framed and ready to hang.
Whether you are planning your first visit or remembering a day spent wandering its stairways, you can browse every print from the building in our La Muralla Roja collection and keep a little of that pink light at home.
