30 Jun Porroig, our annexed bay: territory of fishermen and the telegraph

The beach of Es Torrent is so called because it is located at the mouth of a torrent. This is annexed to the bay of Porroig and much of the landscape that is seen from the shore, the sun loungers and the tables of the restaurant, is made up of the cliffs that close this rada to the south, with the islets that precede it in the first place: s’Illeta Grossa and s’Illeta Petita.

Porroig has always been one of the most sheltered bays to anchor during the summer and that is why the fishermen also chose it to locate in different sections of its shore a large number of boathouses, which were then used to protect the llaüts (the traditional fishing boat), in winter or when the storms were raging. Today these buildings maintain the same use, but also some residents use them to spend the day with the family and enjoy the sea.

The bay has three bathing areas. The main one is the beach of Porroig itself, a crescent full of dry docks, with a fine gravel shore that allows easy access to the water, which is crystal clear. On the north side is also the beach of es Cucó, with a bank of thick boulders, although with fine sandbanks inside. At the other end, at the foot of a red clay cliff, is sa Penya Roja, with another small set of dry docks, where you can find a good place to swim, after descending a path that bypasses the precipice.

As a curiosity, it is worth highlighting the presence of a hut made of sandstone located right in the parking area of the main beach, above the cliff, currently in ruins. It is the old telegraph station, where communications were received between Ibiza and the Peninsula, through a submarine cable, which in some sections descended to 800 meters deep and that linked the sixty nautical miles that separate Jávea from this small pitiusan cove. The cable ascended from the shore to the hut and, from there, by a line of 14 kilometers in length supported by poles, it was derived to the Telegraph Office of the capital.

The telegraph arrived in Ibiza in 1860, decades before the telephone. The first cable linked Jávea with Cala Vedella and the second, this same Alicante town with Cala Molí. The third cable was that of Porroig, installed in 1890. It remained in operation until it was cut in the course of the Civil War (1936-1939).

The interior of the bay is occupied by a wide meadow of posidonia, where all kinds of fish and mollusks breed. Therefore, it is essential to avoid anchoring on it, since it is a protected underwater plant.