Playa Chica
Playa Chica is a beach in the Mar Menor, a land-locked sea on the Costa Blanca which lies just north of Cartagena. In common with various other beaches in the salty silted sea it is famous for its mud, which is believed to have health-giving properties. Mar Menor mud has been used since the time of the Arab occupation to cure everything from acne to rheumatism.
Modern day Spaniards still take the cure quite seriously. Even when they are not suffering from any ailment they like to visit the beach and daub themselves all over with mud. Having coated themselves and each other they then stand in the hot sunshine while the mud dries.
The pale-coloured patch on the water indicates the area where the mud is to be found; here the erstwhile transparent water is clouded with silt from the sub-aquatic diggings.
(Gouache - 22 x 15" / 56 x 38 cm)
These links will provide detailed views of the man in the foreground, putting mud on his legs; the people in the water; and people on the water's edge at the left-hand side of the painting.