Calpe and the Penon de Ifach

No photograph can capture the impact of the huge craggy outcrop, flanked by bustling family beaches, that rears up from the sea at Calpe (Calp) This is the Peñon de Ifach, the symbol of the Costa Blanca, a looming mass of limestone, geologically related to Gibraltar's rock and linked to the mainland by a sandy isthmus. Legend claims Hercules first charted the Peñon, and the remains of Roman Calpea lie on its slopes. Ifach was certainly used as a watchtower, with warning fires lit on the summit. during the years when the Berber pirates threatened the coast, and it was later renowned as a smugglers' haven. Today, despite the teeming summer crowds on Calpe's lovely beaches, it remains isolated and untouched, thanks largely to its modern role as a natural park.

A climb to the 330m summit is best tackled in the cool of the morning in the summer; the views along the coastline and inland to the sierras are at their best around sunrise. Allow about 45 minutes to reach the top, along the track which runs through a tunnel in the bottom of the rock face. The gentler lower slopes run down to rocky inlets and tiny bays, and are brilliantly carpeted in spring with a profusion of over 300 species of wild flowers and plants, including an orchid unique to the Peñon. Bird life is prolific here; in winter the rare Audouin's gull is a frequent visitor and flamingos inhabit the nearby salt flats, along with a variety of waders.