Costa Blanca News: Retracing Albir’s past

THE first of the free walks organised for young people from Alfaz, Altea and Polop took place last weekend. Organised by the youth departments of each municipality, all the chosen routes will illustrate the culture, history and roots of the three towns involved. The Albir conducted tour was led by Richard Barreno from Alfaz’s townhall who, before they set out, explained what the participants would see on their way to the lighthouse inside the Sierra Helada national park.
This included 100,000-year-old fossilised dunes, the ochre mine that was still worked in the 19th century and the Bombarda tower, part of the coast’s 16th-century defence system against pirate attacks. Barreno also reminded participants that it was important to understand the route’s intangible heritage of legends and oral traditions still in the memories of Alfaz’s oldest residents. As well as the three towns’ youth councillors, Alfaz’s mayor Vicente Arquesalso took part in the conducted tour. He pointed out that it was now exactly 15 years since the Sierra Helada was given protected status as a national park, prompting the town hall to declare 2020 as Sierra Helada National Park Year.