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In this map of Santa Pola (dark red), Tabarca is on the right and Alicante on the right upper corner.
Not to be confused with the Tunisian coastal town of Tabarka.

Tabarca (Valencian: [taˈβaɾka], Spanish: [taˈβarka], also known in Valencian as Nova Tabarca and Illa Plana, and in Spanish as Nueva Tabarca and Isla Plana), is an islet located in the Mediterranean Sea, close to the town of Santa Pola, in the province of Alicante, Valencian community, Spain. Tabarca is the smallest permanently inhabited islet in Spain and it is currently known for its marine reserve.



The local census (2011) counted 68 inhabitants and its postal code is 03138.

The islet is 1,750 m (5,741 ft) long, with a maximum breadth of 300 m (984 ft) 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 (15 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, Santa Pola and Torrevieja, 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.



Its Tunisian fellow islet off the town of Tabarka was a part of the Republic of Genoa till 1741 when it was conquered by the Bey of Tunis. In 1760, Charles III of Spain ordered the fortification and repopulation of the Spanish island. A group of Genoese sailors shipwrecked 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 coast.

Plan of the city.

On their arrival, the Genoese were first moved to Alicante, where they provisionally lived in the Jesuit 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 and, later on, Spanish (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.






A view of Tabarca beach.


Tabarca was the last Spanish Mediterranean location where the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal 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 in 1986, the first of its kind in Spain. This status was mainly granted due to its submarine posidonia prairie, which is the largest in the Spanish Mediterranean and has an extraordinary ecological value in terms of marine fauna and flora.


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Coordinates: 38°10′N 0°28′W﻿ / ﻿38.167°N 0.467°W﻿ / 38.167; -0.467