Notable trees: the two local routes

It is a bike tour through the flora and the trees of local interest, running from the village centre to Capicorb along the Camí l’Atall. You can split it: the first three stops are in the centre and on the promenade, the other five head south.

1. La pineda de la plaça Vista Alegre — Plaça Vista Alegre.
   Right in the centre, some of the typical crooked-trunked pines of the seafront have been kept.
2. Els garrofers d’Alcossebre — Public park on Carrer Ametler.
   Carob trees dotted all over town: survivors of the days, not so long ago, when the whole coastal strip was dryland farming.
3. Els arbres del passeig de Les Fonts — Las Fuentes seafront promenade.
   The promenade and the pedestrian streets crossing it are a showcase of native trees and shrubs and traditional gardening.
4. Els arbres de l’Ermita de Sant Antoni — Capicorb, southern end of Camí l’Atall.
   Facing the chapel, a young group of three cypresses and four chinaberries leads up to the building.
5. Els eucaliptus de Cap i Corb — Junction of Camí Vora Riu Sant Miquel and Camí l’Atall.
   In the mid 20th century half the peninsula was replanted with eucalyptus for how fast it grows, even on poor soil. The problem came later: it sterilises the ground and drinks a great deal of water, which tells in semi-arid areas.
6. La morera paperera de les Escoles de Cap i Corb — Camí de Cap i Corb.
   The paper mulberry: its bark fibres are strong enough to make paper, as they do in China. It grows so fast it can turn invasive.
7. El Margalló de Tres Platges — Opposite Tres Playas beach, Camí l’Atall.
   The dwarf fan palm, Europe’s only native palm. Its leaves made brooms, baskets and hats, its fibres vegetable horsehair, and its apical bud is edible.
8. La màquia litoral de la Roca del Moro — Camí l’Atall.
   A short, pleasant walk through a remnant of one of the great Mediterranean ecosystems: coastal maquis.

A walk through the old centre of Alcalà, with the Calvary as its natural end: up to the chapel and back. All six are trees the locals have always known.

1. L’om del Tremedal — End of Carrer Mare de Déu del Tremedal.
   An elm that greets you at the village’s western entrance. Planted in the 1930s alongside others that did not survive.
2. L’olivera de la plaça de l’Església — Church square.
   A Farga-variety olive transplanted into the square in 1993, now one of the village’s set pieces. The olive is among the longest-lived cultivated trees in Europe.
3. Els xiprers del cementeri — Alcalà cemetery, Carrer d’Alió.
   Over ninety cypresses, some twenty metres tall. A sacred tree since antiquity for its longevity, its hard timber and that conical shape pointing skywards.
4. Les sureres de l’estació — Railway station, Passeig Herois del Marroc.
   Three cork oaks inside the station grounds: an unusual species here. Their bark is what cork is made of.
5. Els xiprers del Calvari — Calvari chapel, Camí del Calvari.
   Thirty-two cypresses used to accompany the Calvary procession. As a mystical tree, the cypress suggests contemplation and steadiness.
6. L’olivera del Calvari — Calvari chapel, Camí del Calvari.
   An imposing olive, moved from a nearby plot when the barbecue-and-paella area was laid out.

Every tree has its own panel, and all the panels give the same figures: approximate height, trunk circumference, crown diameter and, where it is a stand rather than a single specimen, the area it covers. It is the clearest way to see why a tree makes the local-interest list: not the species, the sheer size.

Both council leaflets, with a map of each route: Alcossebre botanical route (PDF) and trees of Alcalà route (PDF). They are in Valencian, Spanish, English and French. The rest of the official material —town plans, tourist guide, trail map— is on the downloads page.

If you are after proper countryside, the natural park trails are in the Serra d’Irta guide, and the wider picture in the nature guide.