The urban development of Alicante expanded into a coastal area, San Juan Beach, which was once a natural floodplain or wetland. Despite the construction of a major stormwater drainage system, flooding still occurred in a small area during heavy rainfall. To solve this problem, a stormwater reservoir was created within a municipal plot designated as a green area, with a capacity of 45,000 cubic meters, sufficient to temporarily store excess water from an intense rainfall event.

The initial idea for the park was conceived in 2011, and the project was later drafted by municipal technicians, offering a unique solution that involved using a public park designed to occasionally function as a temporary water retention reservoir, based on the operation of marshes, depressions or plains separated from the sea by a chain of dunes that, during rainy seasons, accumulate the flows from their natural basins, creating specific habitats. Hence the name ‘La Marjal’ floodable park.