Tabarca is the largest island in the Valencian Community, and the smallest permanently inhabited islet in Spain.

The island's current namesake is a Tunisian islet and town of Tabarka, which was a part of the Republic of Genoa until it was conquered by the Bey of Tunis in 1741.

The military engineer Fernando Méndez Ras planned a fortified town and walls, bulwarks, warehouses and barracks were built.

Despite being more related to the fishing port of Santa Pola, both socially and economically, the tiny island of Tabarca is a part of the city of Alicante.

There are several boats connecting Tabarca with Alicante, Santa Pola and Torrevieja, with higher frequencies during summer time.

[2] Tabarca is a protected marine reserve called Reserva marina de la Isla de Tabarca, with a variety of marine fauna including sea bass, grouper, conger eel, and gilthead, and was declared a Zone of Special Protection for Birds by the EU.

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.