On 24th May we took a ferry over to Tabarca, an island off Cabo Santa Pola, Alicante. We can just see it on the horizon driving from Relleu to Alicante via Aguas de Busot. Formerly a roost for the aggressive Barbary pirates, the island has the remnants of a fortress citadel built in 1770 with some original housing constructed for Genoese refugees from Tunisia. Rather barren and windswept it has nonetheless become a popular place for day excursions with ferries from Santa Pola and Alicante. An off beat island, with a fascinating Geological history . Chris Lambert explained to me that it was essentially a nut between the upward grind of Africa and the South of Spain – the continental drift that threw up the Sierras and the Pyrenees. There is a conspicuous fault line scything the island in half. It has an interesting natural history too – once an enclave for Monk seals in the sea caves on the South coast. Birds include Kentish Plover, Thekla Lark, Sardinian Warbler, Spotless Starling and a colony of Storm Petrel. We had an excellent lunch and a bracing walk before catching the Santa Pola ferry. The drive back to Relleu about an hour. The ferries from Santa Pola run once an hour and it’s half an hour across to the island.
