Tabarca, Spain
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Spain’s Mediterranean islands have come to symbolize a super of way of life and leisure.
Chances are you’re aware of the Balearic archipelago. Every 12 months, thousands and thousands flock yearly to the islands of Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera to wander whitewashed cities, absorb pristine seashores, embrace the laidback vibes — and, for some, take pleasure in a little bit of partying.
Just a little farther south lies one other Spanish island that captures a lot of this Mediterranean magic whereas remaining virtually completely unknown.
Look at a map of Spain, zoom in on its southeast nook and, if you happen to listen, you’ll spot an elongated speck of land simply off the town of Alicante.
The flat, tiny island of Nueva Tabarca stretches 1,800 meters — simply over a mile — and spans solely 400 meters at its widest level. Around 50 folks dwell on the island year-round, making it Spain’s smallest completely inhabited island.
What Tabarca lacks in dimension, it extra than makes up for in pure and cultural heritage. Its insularity has shielded it from the reckless overdevelopment that has scarred a lot of the close by Costa Blanca.
Yet Tabarca is much from distant. Officially a part of Alicante, it lies simply a few miles offshore. Several occasions a day, glass-bottomed ferries shuttle guests throughout the slim stretch of water from the mainland fishing port of Santa Pola.
Even this minimal diploma of geographical separation has given Tabarca a character all its personal.
Its distinct character owes a lot to a outstanding 18th century. The island’s inhabitants hint their roots to not close by shores however tons of of miles away — in a historic saga connecting Tabarca to Italy and North Africa.
The Nueva in its title hints on the story.
Between 1500 and 1800, purple coral from what was then the island of Tabarka, on Tunisia’s northern coast, was a prized commodity.
In the sixteenth century, the Genoese Lomellini household secured a concession from the native rulers to reap coral there. By the mid-18th century, the settlement numbered round 2,000, most of Genoese origin.
Then the Ottoman Bey of Tunis, ruler of what’s current day Tunisia, had different plans.
In 1741, his forces overran Tabarka, enslaving many residents and sending shockwaves all through the western Mediterranean. Kings of Spain and Sardinia supplied sanctuary to those that escaped and paid ransoms to free these nonetheless captive.
Those who reached Spain have been supplied a spot to rebuild their lives — on a small, barren island. Then referred to as Illa Plana, or flat island, it was renamed Nueva Tabarca in remembrance of their earlier house.
The new settlement wasn’t improvised. In line with enlightened concepts of the time, army engineers have been assigned to put out a exact city grid which remains to be seen immediately. Broad, straight streets intersect at proper angles, converging on a central sq.. A fortified perimeter protected the neighborhood from the Barbary pirates who frequently raided the Spanish coast.
Meanwhile, not all Tabarkians made it to Spain. Some discovered refuge in Sardinia, the place King Carlo Emanuele III of Savoy resettled them on the islands of San Pietro and Sant’Antioco, founding the villages of Carloforte and Calasetta. Their descendants nonetheless converse the “Tabarchino” dialect and keep a definite tradition.
Recent years have seen efforts to reconnect the three Tabarchine communities after years aside. In 2024, some 75 representatives gathered in Pegli, close to Genoa, their ancestors’ house. There is even discuss of nominating the Tabarchine saga for UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage record.
While that recognition stays a distant prospect, Spanish Tabarca enjoys different official protections. In 1986, it turned Spain’s very first marine reserve. Two-thirds of the island stays undeveloped and largely unspoiled. Its surrounding waters and adjoining rocks and islets act as a refuge for marine life.
The urbanized third of the island has tailored to tourism, with many conventional homes transformed into short-term lodging for the rising variety of vacationers escaping the Costa Blanca buzz.
Island of day-trippers
The charms of Tabarca haven’t gone unnoticed, even past Spain’s borders.
María del Mar Valera, a Tabarca restaurateur and president of APEHA, an affiliation of Alicante hospitality companies, tells NCS that worldwide guests could make as much as 80 to 90% of arrivals.
Most vacationers are day-trippers. Around 20 small-scale companies cater to roughly 200 to 250 folks, although enterprise is strictly seasonal, regardless of the year-round gentle local weather. “No one comes here in winter,” she provides.
Visiting on a quiet Friday in early fall, Tabarca’s streets virtually abandoned. Cats, basking within the afternoon solar, far outnumbered people. (A study discovered that in 2023 there have been round twice as many cats on the island as there have been folks). The broad and tidy streets — uncommon for a Mediterranean city — amplified the sense of tranquillity.
A number of weeks earlier, it might’ve been a unique image.
“At the peak of the summer we may get six or seven thousand visitors, we may have reached 10,000 on some peak day,” says Valera.
Some locals complain that when the vacationers depart, the island fades from view — particularly in relation to public companies.
An absence of transport choices between November and March, when ferry frequencies drop drastically, is a serious grievance, says Carmen Martí, president of the Tabarca residents’ affiliation.
“It is very hard to live a normal life when you can barely make it to the mainland and back on the same day,” Martí tells NCS. Some aged residents have even left as a result of problem in accessing common medical care.
The affiliation is campaigning to get the island’s inhabitants comparable advantages to these loved by residents of different Spanish islands, comparable to assured public transport and discounted journey to the mainland.
Martí additionally helps the introduction of an digital ticket system to entry the island. This, she says, would additionally allow the native and regional governments to get an correct thought of how many individuals go to the island and plan infrastructure and public companies accordingly.
Like many Mediterranean locations, Nueva Tabarca is looking for the best stability between preservation and tourism. In May 2025, the town of Alicante handed new laws in search of to additional defend Tarbarca’s architectural heritage.
“We are working to preserve quite a few valuable architectural elements of value that exist on the island,” José Manuel Pérez, head of municipal heritage within the metropolis of Alicante, tells NCS. “Besides the historical downtown, we are also evaluating possible future uses for the island’s fort,” he provides, referring to a different of the island’s singular constructions, a fortified tower which till not very way back housed a small army garrison.
The fort’s tower stands like a lone centinel in a half-mile stretch of scrubland on an uninhabited a part of the island, a lighthouse and cemetery its solely man-made companions.
From there, the excessive rises of Alicante loom on the horizon, a well timed reminder that Tabarca provides one thing more and more uncommon within the Mediterranean: a spot constructed to human proportions.