History, gastronomy and fun bythe sea!

Mention of Campello brings tomind an ancient watchtowerdown by the fishing port or eatinga leisurely lunch at one of thetraditional restaurants, gazingacross the sandy beach to theazure Mediterranean Sea.

Life in El Campello, a pleasantcoastal town just north of Ali-cante city, has revolved around thesea since times immemorial...

Over the centuries, manycivilizations have stamped theirfootprint on the landscape. Tounravel the mysteries they leftbehind, first take a look at ‘Illetadels Banyets’, the small rockyislet that juts into the sea just be-hind the smart modern leisureharbour. A significant archae-ological site, prehistoric remainsdate back to beyond the BronzeAge and ruins include part of anold Iberian settlement. ‘Banyets’or ‘Baños de la Reina’ refers to

the manmade rock pools, orig-inally a Roman fish salting in-dustry and not the ‘Queen’sBaths’ as popular legend leads usto believe.

Campello has a seafaring tradi-tion that goes back centuries. Thefishing port is one of the oldest inSpain and was until the middle ofthe XX century, the second biggeston the Mediterranean coast. Don’tmiss the public auction that takesplace as the fishing boats dock lateafternoon (weekdays). The catchis brought out on trays and sold tothe highest bidder - anyone cantake part or just watch out of curi-osity. Seafood doesn’t come anyfresher than this!

Campello’s popular mainbeach is south of the harbour.Playa Carrer la Mar is wonder-fully sandy and the sea safe forswimming. The traffic-free sea-front is great for a stroll and thenstopping off for something tasty toeat - Mediterranean rice dishesfigure strongly among the special-ities to try in Campello. Treatyourself to tapas, homemade ice-cream or a cool cocktail... Thetown has an extensive choice ofinternational restaurants too,such as those serving French orItalian cuisine.

Just north from Illeta watch-tower, La Voramar de les Escul-tures promenade (a pleasant walkby the sea with informative panelson wildlife and three sculptures byValencian artist Vicente Ferrero )leads to Playa de l’Almadrava, anattractive sand and pebble beachsome 600m in length.

Diving enthusiasts will lovediscovering the underwater land-

scapes, especially El Caballón bar-rier reef which starts near Cabode las Huertas (Alicante) and runsfor several kilometres northwardsparallel to the coastline.

A variety of action-packedmulti-adventure activities andnot-to-be-missed nautical experi-ences include snorkelling, kayak-ing, boats trips or yacht charters,and even a flight on a light plane!

Don’t miss the ‘Virgen del Car-men’ traditional festivities to hon-our sailors; a full programme ofactivities ends on July 16 with amagnificent sea procession fol-lowed by a firework display onCarrer la Mar beach.

El Campello is ideal for a dayout anytime of the year, easy toreach on the Alicante to DeniaTRAM line or by car. If you’reover for a holiday, hire a rental car(arrange to pick it up from the air-port) to explore the Costa Blanca...there are so many interesting andscenic places to see in AlicanteProvince, and Campello is con-veniently located to explore to thenorth, south and inland! Not onlybeaches, there’s mountains scen-ery, castles, vineyards, historicalcities, salt lakes...

People may not realise that ElCampello has the longest stretchof coastline in Alicante Province,23 kilometres of marvellousgolden beaches, secluded covesand abrupt cliffs but we’ll discoverall this and more in a future edi-tion!

You can see more featuresabout the Costa Blanca on mypersonal travel blog

www.kalitravel.net

El Campello

Getting there:Alicante airport (15km)TRAM Alicante-El Cam-

pello-Benidorm-Dénia)By car: A7 or AP7 motor-

way exit 67 or N332 mainroad.

Illeta dels Banyets Photo courtesy of El Campello Tourist Office.

Torre de la Illeta Photo K. Marco

By Karen Marco

Leisure harbour, fishing port and Playa Carrer la MarPhoto courtesy of El Campello Tourist Office

32 Discovering The Costa Blanca COSTA NEWS, July 8-14, 2016