{"id":2025,"date":"2023-11-20T11:04:44","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T09:04:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T16:50:31","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T14:50:31","slug":"what-was-tabarca-like-before","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/","title":{"rendered":"What was Tabarca like before?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\nTabarca Island, now known as a picturesque destination off the coast of Alicante, has a rich and varied history. Its past is as fascinating as its present, shaped by a series of major transformations over the centuries.\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\r\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_86 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Tabla de contenidos<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #a01a5a;color:#a01a5a\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #a01a5a;color:#a01a5a\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ez-toc-columns-2 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/#a-haven-for-pirates-and-corsairs\" >A Haven for Pirates and Corsairs<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/#the-transformation-by-charles-iii\" >The Transformation by Charles III<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/#the-birth-of-a-community\" >The Birth of a Community<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/#from-fortaleza-to-marine-reserve\" >From Fortaleza to Marine Reserve<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/what-was-tabarca-like-before\/#other-news-about-tabarca\" >Other news about Tabarca<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"a-haven-for-pirates-and-corsairs\"><\/span>A Haven for Pirates and Corsairs<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>In its early days, Tabarca was known as a refuge for Barbary pirates. In the 18th century, its strategic position in the Mediterranean made it an ideal base for pirates launching raids on the Spanish coast. This was a constant problem for the Kingdom of Spain, then ruled by Charles III.\n<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-transformation-by-charles-iii\"><\/span>The Transformation by Charles III<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Tabarca&#8217;s history took a major turn when King Charles III of Spain decided to put an end to the pirate threat. He ordered the island to be fortified and permanently settled. The first inhabitants of the &#8220;new&#8221; Tabarca were not Spanish but a community of Genoese fishermen who had been held captive in Tunisia and were freed by the Spanish Crown.\n<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"the-birth-of-a-community\"><\/span>The Birth of a Community<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>These fishermen, whose families originally came from Pegli, near Genoa (Italy), were resettled on Tabarca. Charles III wanted a permanent presence on the island to keep the pirates from returning. The island was fortified, and walls, towers, a church and other buildings were built for the new population, turning Tabarca into a fortified town built from scratch in the 18th century.\n<\/p><p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\r\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"from-fortaleza-to-marine-reserve\"><\/span>From Fortaleza to Marine Reserve<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\r\n<p>Over time, Tabarca&#8217;s strategic importance declined and the island gradually became a quiet fishing village. In recent decades it has changed again, this time towards tourism: its natural beauty, crystal-clear waters and rich history have made it a popular destination.\n<\/p><p>In 1986 the waters around the island were declared a marine reserve, the first of its kind in Spain, protecting the marine environment and promoting sustainable tourism. This status has helped preserve Tabarca&#8217;s biodiversity and natural beauty, attracting visitors interested in nature, history and culture.<\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p><p><\/p><h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"other-news-about-tabarca\"><\/span>Other news about Tabarca<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tabarca Island, now known as a picturesque destination off the coast of Alicante, has a rich and varied history. Its past is as fascinating as its present, shaped by a series of major transformations over the centuries. &nbsp; A Haven for Pirates and Corsairs In its early days, Tabarca was known as a refuge for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_joinchat":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2025","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sin-categorizar"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2025"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4781,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2025\/revisions\/4781"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laisladetabarca.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}