Travel Located on Spain’s East Coast, Alicante draws millions of visitors every year with its warm, dry climate and seven Mediterranean Sea beaches. The mountaintop Santa Barbara Castle towers over the city. One of the largest medieval fortresses in Europe, it received its name on December 4, 1248 – St. Barbara’s feast day – when King Alfonso the Wise recaptured the castle from theMoors who had controlled Alicante since 713. Admission is free. We climbed up a ramp past cacti, flowers and fragrant lavender to a bridge, which was originally one of three drawbridges that hindered enemies from entering. Reminders of the past appeared at every level of the military fortress, from black cannons to a replica soldier in medieval armour pointing his crossbow out over Alicante. Looking through cannon embrasures in the metre-thick parapets, we enjoyed bird’s-eye views of the city, white yachts glimmering in the marina and the blue Mediterranean Sea. We walked down the road behind the castle to visit the 18th-century city hall. Inside the Baroque building was our first surprise – a gold-covered bronze statue of St. John the Baptist, designed by Salvador Dali in 1973. Embedded in the lowest step of the 300-year-old red marble staircase next to Dali’s sculpture is a brass reference point for measuring sea-level heights for Spanish cities. Exiting city hall below its clock tower, we strolled to the Explanada de España. The broad walkway is paved with 6.6 million red, black and cream marble tiles arranged in wave patterns to imitate the Mediterranean Sea. Four rows of tall date palms shade pedestrians and handicraft stands. It was a picturesque place to relax in an outdoor café with glasses of excellent Spanish wine and tapas (snacks). Alicante Walking along ramp in Santa Barbara Castle Salvador Dali’s gold-covered bronze statue of St. John the Baptist next to brass sea-level reference point for Spanish cities CSANews | SUMMER 2018 | 19
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