Before or after visiting Bodegas Enrique Mendoza in Alfaz del Pi, we recommend that you put on your trainers and make the climb to the Faro de L´Albir in the Serra Gelada Natural Park.
The Punta Albir lighthouse is a lighthouse located in the town of Alfaz del Pi. It was inaugurated on April 30th, 1863 following the 1855 project of the engineer Antonio Molina. Nearby are the restored ruins of the Bombarda tower, a four-meter-high seventeenth-century watchtower that served to warn of the frequent attacks by Berber pirates.
The Serra Gelada Natural Park covers a total of 5,653.92 hectares, of which 4,908.95 are marine and 744.97 land, in the municipalities of Benidorm, Alfaz del Pi and Altea. The park protects the entire mountain range and three emblematic islets: the Illot de la Mitjana, the Illot de Benidorm and the Illots de l’Olla and la Galera.
The Serra Gelada is formed by a relief that rises abruptly on the plains of Benidorm, Alfaz del Pi and Altea, and gives rise, on its coastline, to cliffs of more than 300 meters.
Its name, Sierra Helada, is given not only by its orientation, which creates a colder microclimate, but also by the optical effect that limestone produces when light reflects off it on moonlight nights. It houses redoubts of vegetation of exceptional value: on one of its slopes there is an abundance of Mediterranean forest and on the slope that faces the sea, species capable of supporting saline soils and the abrasive effects of the wind, among which the hanging fossil dune stands out.
In the marine environment, there are oceanic Posidonia and vermetid meadows and, with regard to fauna, its main wealth is seabirds, there are numerous animal species that deserve a mention for their importance or state of conservation. These include Dendropoma petraeum and nacra, as well as numerous taxonomies of fish, crustaceans and other invertebrates.
The Sierra Helada is an enclave of great floristic richness, with a prominent presence of plant species of great interest, many of them protected to different degrees by current legislation, as they are threatened species. For this reason, the Sierra Helada has two micro-reserves of flora.
The most interesting terrestrial fauna are seabirds. The area can be considered the second most important of this type of birds in the Valencian Community, after the archipelago of the Columbretes Islands. The most interesting species are the European chickadee, the shag, and the Audouin’s gull. Although the raptors are also relevant, such as the peregrine falcon. Other species of interest are the gray shearwater, the Balearic shearwater and the common gannet.
Highly recommended for the whole family, they are resources that can be visited perfectly with trolleys and pets.
