San Lorenzo, Golden sand beach in Melilla, Spain

San Lorenzo is a Mediterranean beach with fine, golden sand extending along the waterfront. The shoreline offers calm water and a gentle slope into the sea, making it accessible to swimmers of different abilities.

In the late 1920s the area was open ground exposed to storms; between November 1926 and February 1927 shacks were dismantled, and the site was filled with sand from the levelled Cerro de San Lorenzo plus dredging under mayor Enrique Cobrero Acero, creating the urban beach. A fish market designed by engineer Francisco Carcaño opened on the San Lorenzo esplanade in 1921 and was enlarged in the 1920s; fishing ceased in the early 1980s.

On the night of 23 to 24 June the beach hosts the city's most popular San Juan festivities, with bonfires and music drawing thousands of Melillans and visitors. On 17 September, Melilla's Day, the beach becomes a gathering point for aerial displays by the "ASPA" helicopter patrol and a demonstration by the Canine Patrol of the 8th Engineers Regiment.

San Lorenzo is reached from the Paseo Marítimo, which runs along the sand and eases movement for visitors. The beach has toilets, showers, foot-wash taps, bins and umbrellas and sun loungers for hire, plus ramps and walkways for people with reduced mobility. In April 2025 a new ramp into the sea was opened, built in three months for 41,000 euros under the Plan de Playas 2025. Lifeguards patrol the beach.

The beach was created in the late 1920s by filling the area with sand from the dismantled Cerro de San Lorenzo, under mayor Enrique Cobrero Acero. A fish market designed by engineer Francisco Carcaño opened on the San Lorenzo esplanade in 1921 and was later expanded, but fishing ceased in the early 1980s.