Nueva Tabarca Museum

What it is

Beside the harbour, facing the Grande beach, the Nueva Tabarca Museum tells the island's story: the Barbary pirates, the founding of the village with the Genoese families and the life of the fishermen. Entry is free. It opens Wednesday to Sunday: in winter from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 15:30 to 16:30; in summer from 11:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:30. The council warns that the hours may change because of the weather.

Before you go: the state of the museum

The council's page for the museum warns that the exhibition room is being refurbished and that only the audiovisual room can be visited; the same page also shows a notice of closure until further notice. Before counting on it, call 965 960 175 or write to [email protected]. In the meantime, the full text of the exhibition can be downloaded as a PDF in Spanish, Valencian and English from that same website.

What it tells

The museum opened in May 2004 in the former tuna-trap store, refurbished as a services building, on Paseo Miguel Ángel Blanco. It has two rooms. The audiovisual room welcomes visitors with backlit historic photographs, the display case "An Island in a Display Case" and an audiovisual on the islanders' relationship with the sea. The exhibition room covers the island's geography and geology, its marine biodiversity, its ethnographic heritage and its history, and has a raised space for school activities and talks.

Hours and groups

According to the council, it opens Wednesday to Sunday with hours adapted to the boats: in the morning from 10:45, with the arrival of the boats from Santa Pola, and in summer from 11:45, with those from Alicante. Group visits are requested in advance by phone or at [email protected]. If it is closed, the walk along the walls tells much of the same story in the open air.