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Tabarca Island

Alacant/Alicante, L'Alacantí, Alicante

1 Villages · 7 Monuments · 5 Nature · 3 Activities · 1 Curiosities · 5 Historical milestones · 1 Food and drink

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Tabarca Island

Nature · Alacant/Alicante, L'Alacantí, Alicante

The island of Tabarca, also called Nueva Tabarca or Plana, lies about 22 kilometres from Alicante and 8 from the port of Santa Pola, off whose coast lies Spain's first marine reserve, declared in April 1986 and famous for the clarity of its waters. It is the largest island in the Valencian Community and the only inhabited one, administered as a district of Alicante, with the village of Tabarca, which in 2019 had just 51 inhabitants. With only 30 hectares and an almost flat relief not exceeding 15 metres, it narrows in its western third to form an isthmus separating the town centre from the rest of the island. It received its current name in 1770, when Genoese refugees arrived from the Tunisian island of Tabarka, although it had previously been known as San Pablo, Planesia or Plana.

Photo: Jose A. (CC BY 2.0)

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