Tabarca
Encyclopedia
- Not to be confused with the Tunisian coastal town of TabarkaTabarkaTabarka is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, at about , close to the border with Algeria. It has been famous for its coral fishing, the Coral Festival of underwater photography and the annual jazz festival. Tabarka's history is a colorful mosaic of Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and...
.
Tabarca (taˈβaɾka, taˈβarka, also known in Valencian as Nova Tabarca and Illa Plana, and in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as Nueva Tabarca and Isla Plana), is an islet
Islet
An islet is a very small island.- Types :As suggested by its origin as islette, an Old French diminutive of "isle", use of the term implies small size, but little attention is given to drawing an upper limit on its applicability....
located in the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
, close to the town of Santa Pola
Santa Pola
Santa Pola is a coastal town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó in the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea...
, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
, Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. Tabarca is the smallest permanently inhabited islet in Spain and it is currently known for its marine reserve
Marine reserve
For the United States Marine Corps Reserve see: Marine Forces ReserveA marine reserve is an area of the sea which has legal protection against fishing or development. This is to be distinguished from a marine park, but there is some overlap in usage...
.
Geography
Despite being much more socially and economically related to the fishing port of Santa Pola, the tiny island of Tabarca is a part of the city of AlicanteAlicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
. Administratively, it is managed as a rural district of Alicante, jointly with el Palmeral, Aiguamarga and Urbanova.
The local census (2004) counted 98 inhabitants and its postal code is 03138.
The islet is 1750 meters long, with a maximum breadth of 300 meters and absolutely flat. Almost next to the main islet lie the islets of la Nau, la Galera and la Cantera. It lies approximately 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) south southeast from Alicante and 5 nautical miles (9 km) east south east from Santa Pola.
It is worth mentioning the church and the walls in the west part of the island, which is the traditionally inhabited part. The houses are low and the only tall buildings are the church and the lighthouse.
Tourism is the main economical activity, especially during the summer. There are several boats connecting Tabarca with Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, Santa Pola
Santa Pola
Santa Pola is a coastal town located in the comarca of Baix Vinalopó in the Valencian Community, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea...
and Torrevieja
Torrevieja
Torrevieja is a seaside city and municipality located on the Costa Blanca in the province of Alicante, in south-eastern Spain.Torrevieja lies about 30 miles south of the city of Alicante and has a population of 104,000...
, with higher frequencies during summer time.
The tiny island has become a popular day trip destination either from Alicante or Santa Pola, with its quiet fishing village offering an old fort, several fresh seafood restaurants, a rocky beach with clear turquoise water, several coves and tidal pools ideal for bathing.
History
Before 1700, the island was known as Illa de Sant Pau ('Saint Paul's Island') or Illa Plana ('Flat Island'). Believed to be the island that St. Paul disembarked on, the island was a refuge for Barbary pirates up to the end of the 18th century.Its Tunisian fellow islet off the town of Tabarka
Tabarka
Tabarka is a coastal town located in north-western Tunisia, at about , close to the border with Algeria. It has been famous for its coral fishing, the Coral Festival of underwater photography and the annual jazz festival. Tabarka's history is a colorful mosaic of Phoenician, Roman, Arabic and...
was a part of the Republic of Genoa
Republic of Genoa
The Most Serene Republic of Genoa |Ligurian]]: Repúbrica de Zêna) was an independent state from 1005 to 1797 in Liguria on the northwestern Italian coast, as well as Corsica from 1347 to 1768, and numerous other territories throughout the Mediterranean....
till 1741 when it was conquered by the Bey
Bey
Bey is a title for chieftain, traditionally applied to the leaders of small tribal groups. Accoding to some sources, the word "Bey" is of Turkish language In historical accounts, many Turkish, other Turkic and Persian leaders are titled Bey, Beg, Bek, Bay, Baig or Beigh. They are all the same word...
of Tunis. In 1760, Charles III of Spain
Charles III of Spain
Charles III was the King of Spain and the Spanish Indies from 1759 to 1788. He was the eldest son of Philip V of Spain and his second wife, the Princess Elisabeth Farnese...
ordered the fortification and repopulation of the Spanish island. A group of Genoese sailors shiprecked near the coast of Tunisia, mostly coming from the islet off Tunisian Tabarka, were rescued and settled here. The islet was renamed Nova Tabarca ("New Tabarca" in both Catalan and Latin). Thus a settlement was created by royal edict on this uninhabited island which the North African corsaries had previously used as a platform for raids on the Levantine
Levante
This is a disambiguation page. Levante may refer to*Levant, the lands in the eastern Mediterranean, covering Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Iraq.*Levante, Spain, the eastern Iberian coastal region of Spain...
coast.
Once released, the Genoese were first moved to Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
, where they provisionally lived in the Jesuitic School, empty after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spain. Finally, the Genoese were moved to the island jointly with a Spanish garrison. The military engineer Fernando Méndez Ras planned a fortified town and walls, bulwarks, warehouses and barracks were built. From 1770, the island was known as Nueva Tabarca ('New Tabarca').
Despite the fact that the Genoese assimilated and shifted their language into Valencian
Valencian
Valencian is the traditional and official name of the Catalan language in the Valencian Community. There are dialectical differences from standard Catalan, and under the Valencian Statute of Autonomy, the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua has been established as its regulator...
and, later on, Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
(which are both the languages currently spoken on the islet), the Genoese descent of the settlers can still be noticed today in the surnames of Italian origin common on the islet.
The island is twinned with Carloforte
Carloforte
Carloforte is a fishing and resort town of located on Isola di San Pietro , approximately 7 km off the South Western Coast of Sardinia, Italy....
, in the Sardinia
Sardinia
Sardinia is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea . It is an autonomous region of Italy, and the nearest land masses are the French island of Corsica, the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Tunisia and the Spanish Balearic Islands.The name Sardinia is from the pre-Roman noun *sard[],...
n San Pietro Island
San Pietro Island
San Pietro Island is an island approximately 7 km off the South western Coast of Sardinia, Italy, facing the Sulcis peninsula. With 51 km² it is the sixth largest island of Italy by area. The approximately 6,000 inhabitants are mostly concentrated in the fishing town of Carloforte, the...
, which was also populated with Genoese from Tunisian Tabarka.
The gateways are still visible and so are the Governor's House (currently a hotel) and the church of St Peter and St Paul, concluded in 1779.
In 1850 the governor and the garrison were removed. At the end of the 19th century, the island had a population of around 1,000 people mainly devoted to fishing. Nowadays, the permanent population is around 50, making Tabarca the smallest permanently inhabited Spanish island, although this number is multiplied by ten during the tourist season in summer.
The main activity of the local population is fishing, with the catch brought to Santa Pola's fish market, but tourism becomes the most important resource during summer, specially in July and August.
Ecology
Tabarca is a protected marine reserve called Reserva marina de la Isla de Tabarca, declared a Zone of Special Protection for Birds by the EU, with a varied marine fauna (sea bass, grouper, conger eel, gilthead etc.). It is surrounded by very clear and unpolluted waters. The island is formed by materials of volcanic origin on top of which limestone and quaternary deposits have settled.Tabarca was the last Spanish Mediterranean location where the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal
Mediterranean Monk Seal
The Mediterranean monk seal is a pinniped belonging to the Phocidae family. At some 450-510 remaining individuals, it is believed to be the world's second-rarest pinniped , and one of the most endangered mammals in the world.It is present in parts of the Mediterranean Sea and the eastern Atlantic...
successfully bred before it became extinct in this part of its range in the 1960s. This proves the high quality of the waters around the island in terms of marine ecology. Therefore waters around Tabarca were declared a Marine reserve
Marine reserve
For the United States Marine Corps Reserve see: Marine Forces ReserveA marine reserve is an area of the sea which has legal protection against fishing or development. This is to be distinguished from a marine park, but there is some overlap in usage...
in 1986, the first of its kind in Spain. This status was mainly granted due to its submarine posidonia
Posidonia
Posidonia is a genus of flowering plants. It contains two to nine species of marine plants , found in the seas of the Mediterranean and around the south coast of Australia....
prairie, which is the largest in the Spanish Mediterranean and has an extraordinary ecological value in terms of marine fauna and flora.
In order to both enhance the marine biodiversity and protect it from fishing, an artificial reef
Artificial reef
An artificial reef is a human-made underwater structure, typically built to promote marine life in areas with a generally featureless bottom, control erosion, block ship passage, or improve surfing....
was laid near the island by the Marine Reserve authorities.
External links
- Tabarca en Google Maps
- Official site of the Spanish Marine Reservations, including Tabarca (in Spanish).
- Tabarca insights, including details about the local food.
- Detailed site from the Alicante city council about Tabarca (in Spanish).
- Visit Tabarca