Joshua Parfitt
THE Sierra and Cabo de Santa Pola has come a step closer to being designated a municipal nature reserve.
The councillor for agriculture, environment, climate change and rural development, Alejandro Escalada Villanueva, last week announced a 45-day window for interested parties to present allegations.
Once past this procedure, there will be a further six-month period where the council will convene meetings with representatives of citizen organisations, and subsequently a two-year window in which to determine permitted activities on the reserve.
“With this declaration, for the first time the Sierra and the Cabo de Santa Pola will have a figure of protection,” a spokesperson for the Santa Pola town hall said.
The Sierra de Santa Pola is known for its cliffs, which rise 144m above sea level on the northern tip of the bay of Alicante.
It is one of the only geographical formations of a fossilised coral reef in Europe.
Atop the Sierra is a lighthouse, called the Torre Vigia Atalayola, and at the base of the hill is Torre d’en Mig, an old barracks for controlling smuggling now converted into the Centro de Investigation Marina’s (CIMAR) base.
