Xàbia (Valencian: [ˈʃabia]) or Jávea (Spanish: [ˈxaβea]) is a coastal town and municipality in the comarca of Marina Alta, in the province of Alicante, Valencia, Spain, by the Mediterranean Sea.

[2] The area was first inhabited in prehistoric times, 30,000 years ago by cave dwellers on Montgó.

[3] Subsequent residents have included Stone and Bronze-age peoples, Romans, Greeks, Phoenicians, Visigoths, Germanic, Carthaginians, and Moors.

Hermenegild, son of the Visigoth king Leovigild of Toledo, sought refuge in the Monastery after angering his father by marrying a Christian girl.

Flat, fertile agricultural land stretches for miles inland, criss-crossed by small streams and used primarily for growing citrus and olive trees.

Whilst the history of the harbour stretches back to the 15th century, the first jetty was built in 1871 and it became an important gateway for the export of raisins.