Alicante (about 350,000 inhabitants), located 70 km north-east of Murcia, is the capital of a province in the Comunidad Valenciana, the city is located in a bay that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea, is a seaside resort on the Costa Blanca, with modern and extensive neighborhoods and gardens around the old part, dominated by the castle of Santa Barbara. Alicante is an important port, maritime outlet of Madrid and central Spain, from Alicante departing ferry services to the Balearic Islands (Ibiza). 

The hill where the castle is now in Alicante was fortified by the Carthaginians in 237 BC, the Romans founded the town of Lucentum. During the period of the barbarian invasions it became a major Visigothic city, then passed to the Byzantines and, in the eighth century, to the Arabs, who built the castle, the town in the Arabic era was known by the name of Lecanto. Alicante went into Christian hands in the thirteenth century and for its strategic importance was fought between Castile and Aragon. 

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