Overlooking Denia from Montgo

Over the Easter holidays we headed south to the beach and do some walking. We stayed in Oliva – just north of Denia. Really nice beach (which we took a fantastic horseride down) and some good walking with wonderful spring flowers nearby.

The Penyal d’Ifrac is a 332m rock rising directly out from the sea at Calpe. It’s a protected area of just 45 hectares but home to wealth of plantlife. We made our way to the top via a tunnel through the cliff face. The yellow legged gulls had started nesting and there were birds on nests all over the cliffs – some virtually on the path itself. The flowers were superb – bright pink wild gladiolus covered the slopes after the tunnel.

The Montgo Natural Park is a limestone ridge on the outskirts of Denia. The summit is 753m and gave great views of the coastline. Another protected area, it’s also covered in flowers at this time of year. Near the summit there was an area of filled with wild tulips and orchids.

Swallowtail butterfly near summit of Montgo

Wild Gladiolus on Penyal d'Ifac