Calpe (Calp in Valencian) is a small coastal town on the Costa Blanca dominated by the Penyal d'Ifac, a massive 332-metre limestone rock jutting out of the sea. The rock is a nature reserve and the climb to the top — about an hour each way through a tunnel and along a steep trail — rewards you with views stretching to Ibiza on a clear day.
The town has a long history of settlement. There are Iberian remains from the fourth century BC, Roman fish-salting baths right on the waterfront, and a small walled old quarter that dates from the Moorish period. After the Christian reconquest, Calpe endured centuries of pirate raids — on one 1609 raid the entire population was taken into slavery — and the watchtowers scattered along the coast are a reminder of that era.
Modern Calpe is a resort town with a large expat population, long sandy beaches on either side of the rock, and a fish market where the day's catch is auctioned each afternoon. The old town above the port has a few good restaurants serving fresh seafood. Architecture enthusiasts make the trip specifically for La Muralla Roja, Ricardo Bofill's striking 1973 apartment complex painted in vivid pinks and reds at the foot of the rock.