Serra Gelada Natural Park

Parque Natural de la Serra Gelada occupies a narrow 5,400-hectare peninsula between Benidorm and l'Albir on the Alicante coast. The ridge itself reaches only 438 m at the Pic de la Serra Gelada, but its cliffs drop vertically into the Mediterranean — which has earned them the nickname 'the Alps of the Mediterranean' among local sailors. From the water, the silhouette of red conglomerate and grey marl against blue sea shifts in colour through the day: orange at dawn, ochre at midday, violet at dusk. The name 'Gelada' — frozen in Catalan — does not refer to the climate but traces to the Arabic root 'yabal', meaning mountain.

The park protects both the terrestrial area and a 2,400-hectare marine strip extending 500 m from the shore. The seabed combines Posidonia oceanica meadows — a Mediterranean endemic plant that serves as a water quality indicator and nursery habitat — with vertical limestone walls colonised by red gorgonians (Paramuricea clavata) and deep-water anemones. This marine environment makes the area one of the most interesting snorkelling and diving zones on the Alicante coast, with visibility on calm days exceeding 20 metres.

On land, the park's trails follow the ridgeline and clifftop with simultaneous views of Benidorm Bay and the Marina Alta coast. The path from La Cala de Finestrat to l'Albir, approximately 9 km, connects the southern end with the Albir Lighthouse passing the Tossal Gros and Barranc de la Bota viewpoints. This route is suitable for families with children over 8, though exposed sections require care. The Albir lighthouse, built in 1863 and now automated, can be visited during open-day events organised by the Alicante Port Authority.

The proximity of Benidorm — less than 4 km from the park boundary — makes Serra Gelada one of the most accessible protected natural areas in Spain. This brings clear advantages: good transport infrastructure, broad accommodation choice and public bus access. The practical consequence is that popular trails can be busy on summer mornings; arriving before 9 am or visiting on weekdays resolves this.

The geology of the serra warrants its own note. The eastern cliff materials are Miocene conglomerates and Cretaceous limestone, deformed during the Alpine orogeny and then exposed by marine erosion over thousands of years. On the lowest scarps, where waves have polished the rock, the bioerosion marks of sea urchins and date mussels (Lithophaga lithophaga) are visible—a bivalve that bores cylindrical galleries directly into limestone. The species is now protected and its collection is an offence, but its empty galleries appear at dozens of points along the coast. For underwater photographers, the combination of Posidonia meadows, gorgonian fans and vertical limestone walls provides compositions hard to match on the mainland Mediterranean coastline.