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A day trip by boat from Torrevieja (40 minutes) or Santa Pola (15 minutes) to the islet of Tabarca gives us a glimpse of a Spanish village that got stuck in the 1950s. Row of white houses, no cars, no benches and no loud billboards. In the winter months, the local population of about twenty people is more than happy to make up for the many birds that experience this idyllic place as home.
During the summer months everything changes. A daily influx of tourists who want to 'relax' for a day ensures a multiplication of those present. Indeed, the many restaurants, tavernas, shops and beaches make it easy to keep the pace low. Moreover, Tabarca is a popular place for snorkeling or diving.
Although Tabarca is only 1,800 meters long and a maximum of 400 meters wide, it has a rich and eventful history. It started when Berber pirates saw it as an ideal hideout and an easy starting point for their dubious activities. At the end of the 18th century, that changed when the pirates were expelled and the Spanish king brought Italian prisoners to the island. There they could live from fishing.
More important to Spain was the military advantage of an island with a watchtower and a 'defensive wall'. The buildings from that time (including a church and a house of the governor unformed into a hotel) still bear witness to that history. The peak of activity on Tabarca was around the end of the 19th century when about 1,000 people lived and lived on the island.
Tabarca's most recent history is mainly about protecting the environment. In 1986 it was declared the first protected naval reserve in Spain. An artificial reef was even created to enhance the diversity of life in the waters around the island and to protect it from fishing. The European Union made a contribution and designated the area as a special zone for the protection of birds.
The smallest permanently inhabited island in Spain has therefore been through a lot in its existence.
