All the secular legends, all their obvious kinship with natural monuments of similar size, such as Es Vedrá in Ibiza or the Gibraltarian rock, all the tales of mythological heroes and Barbary pirates and the daydreams of out-of-date hippies, seem to make sense when one contemplates the silhouette of the Penyal d'Ifac (Peñón de Ifach) silhouetted under the light of the full moon from the nocturnal distance of Calp's promenade. .
That magic, that intriguing appeal, and the prosaic evidence that hiking is in fashion and that a mountain next to a beach well endowed with hotel accommodation places thousands of specimens of common sunbird at the foot of this limestone mass - whose 330 meters seem to one three thousand, from a certain age and temperature - have turned the natural park into a danger that claims victims with unusual frequency.
So much so that the mountain rescue group of the Alicante Provincial Firefighters Consortium has been forced to intervene seven times this year, reaching the place by helicopter that is based in Sant Vicent del Raspeig, next to the city of Alicante and near its General Hospital.
Sergeant Salvador Luque, head of the group, explains it to La Vanguardia: "we intervene more frequently than we should, without a doubt." Because of how accessible the place is, "there is a large crowd of people, despite the fact that there is now a lathe that controls the maximum number of people who can access it."
Indeed, since the year 2020, in view of the fact that the crowds that flocked to the place began to be uncontrollable, there is a lathe at the entrance of this Natural Park managed by the Generalitat Valenciana and a limitation of 300 people per day. In fact, it is necessary to register electronically on the park's website to be able to take the excursion, which is free.
Despite the limitation, the number of visitors is very high every day in high season and, as Sergeant Luque explains, "in 90% of the cases they are not mountaineers, they go to the Rock as if it were Port Aventura, and although some signs warn against accessing with flip flops, they do not wear the proper footwear". And it is that current and grinding walking shoes do not have the sole that the terrain demands either.
In addition, "the physical shape of the visitors very often is not in accordance with the effort they are going to make, much less with the temperatures and humidity that are reached in this area." This combination of a physique cultivated in a sedentary lifestyle, sports shoes only in appearance, together with hours of extreme heat and the frequent imprudence of not carrying enough water, becomes an explosive cocktail.
Of the seven interventions carried out in the area this year by the rescue group dependent on the Provincial Council, "only once were climbers who got trapped overnight; all the others were visitors, tourists, without the proper material or physical condition."
Luque explains that there are other singular circumstances in the Rock that further complicate the matter. From being trodden on so much, the path is very degraded, "polished", says the sergeant, who gives us a very graphic example: "like the rock of Pilar de Zaragoza; there are steps going up to the summit that are the same, as if they had been given a polisher". Apart from the fact that "it is not a comfortable path, there is little to do with what could happen."
Sometimes excursions end tragically. "Without a doubt, the main problem is cardiorespiratory arrest," says our interlocutor, which is suffered by people subjected "to physical activity for which they are not prepared, with high temperatures and, very important in this case, with such high humidity in that area: all added up is a perfect combination to die for."
Regarding hydration, Luque advises starting to drink abundantly 24 hours in advance. He tells us about an event from this week, on Mount Ponoig: "a 24-year-old boy and two 17-year-olds, at two in the afternoon and near the summit; one of them weighed 115 kilos and would have measured 1.70; and those who were more athletic, those who had set up the activity, were without water. We had to send the helicopter to pick them up because that would have ended badly for at least one of them, for sure."
Luque points out that in the case of Ifach, "you leave the car next to it and go up a path, people think that everything is the same, but when you go through the tunnel things change, between that point and the summit is where all the rescues take place". In such a touristy town, problems often happen to foreigners, whether they are foreigners or nationals, because "the people of the area know what's going on."
Another added problem are the seagulls. The natural park's own website warns that during the breeding season they become aggressive, which can be very dangerous for the rescuers who come by helicopter: "there is a plague of seagulls in the area, it is a maximum danger; when they are nesting they attack the helicopter, which can perfectly fall to the ground if a seagull gets into a turbine."
It seems inevitable that visits to such an attractive natural enclave will continue to be numerous, but is there any way to further reduce risk situations? The firefighters of the Provincial Consortium are going to propose to the management of the Natural Park that the signage be updated, with more complete information, but Luque is in favor -even knowing that it is a delicate matter- of establishing some kind of sieve at the entrance (since in this case there is a control, something that does not normally happen in the mountains), to dissuade those who do not meet the conditions to undertake the company or, at least, so that those who ascend do so knowing the risk they are running.
The Rescue Group of the Consortium of Firefighters operates throughout the province, has only one helicopter and, when mishaps accumulate, sometimes it must choose which of the events is more serious to go first. All of its components are mountain lovers, and they are proud that Alicante's landscapes have become famous in recent years, but for everyone's safety they show great interest in spreading a message of prudence and good practices. "On June 26, a person died in Puig Campana who did not carry water; at this time, with these temperatures, even if you get up early, going out into the mountains is absolutely reckless," concludes Luque.
