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calblanque costa blanca
a few kilometers south of the highly developed resorts around the mar menor lies one of spain's most unspoiled coastal stretches, calblanque. local people fought hard in the 1980s to protect this area, which is now a designated natural park. access is down a bumpy track off the busy main road running to la manga. within minutes, the roar of traffic disappears, hills rise up and the road gradually winds down to the sea. from the small car park boardwalks lead across the fragile dunes to the beaches, and paths run along the coast in either direction....
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the valley of gallinera
the dramatic mountains behind the northern costa blanca are cut by valleys, some narrow and steep, others broad and gentle. they are all exceptionally fertile, meticulously terraced where needed and irrigated by a system devised by the moors. these valleys are nicknamed after the main crop: the gallinera has long been known as the cherry valley....
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guadalest near benidorm
the mountains of the sierra de aitana rise steeply behind benidorm's coastline, towering above lush and fertile valleys and dotted with hilltop villages. these valleys were terraced and irrigated by the moors, who built a network of castles from which they controlled the northern valleys....
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huerta del cura in elche
thousands of date palms surround three sides of the historic inland city of elche, one of only two palm forests in europe. probably originally planted by the phoenicians in the 4th century bc, these magnificent trees are still watered by the 10th century irrigation system built by the moor abderraman iii....
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the cabo de san antonio
easily reached from the holiday centers to the north and south, the massif of montgo and the promontory of planes run down to the cabo de san antonio to the north of javea xilbial. this whole area, covering more than 2,000ha, was designated a natural park in 1987, mainly because of its flora. within the park more than 600 species of wild flowers grow, many of them unique indigenous subspecies....
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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....
san feliu jativa
one of the region's finest religious buildings, lovely and evocative san feliu is set among olives and cypresses below the walls of jativa's historic castle. a must for fans of early architecture, this ancient church stands on the site of a 7thcentury palaeo christian church, the seat of the visigothic bishopric....
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santa maria murcia
murcia's cathedral, dating from the 14th to 18th centuries, stands out in a city crammed with exuberant baroque architecture. if ever a building captured the spirit of the place, santa maria, with its ebullient and lavish decoration and sense of religious fervour, surely does....
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sierra de espuna murcia
southwest of murcia city, the andalucian sierras tail off into a series of rocky massifs, undeveloped and undiscovered. this is the sierra de espuna, one of spain's renowned natural parks, a wilderness area of dramatic peaks and pine forests offering scenic drives, serious climbing and superb walking....
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elche costa blanca
surrounded and infiltrated by europe's largest palm forest, the ancient city of elche stands on the vinalopo river. spain's shoe manufacturing capital, elche is a stronghold of the valencian language and one of the most historic towns in the region. founded as an iberian settlement named illici, the romans called it lulia illice augusta. it became an important visigothic episcopal centre, served as a major moorish power base, was retaken by jaime i in 1265 and has since quietly prospered....
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