El Fraile Island
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Isla del Fraile (Friar's Island) is a steep island located east of the urban centre of Águilas (
Murcia Murcia ( , , ) is a city in south-eastern Spain, the Capital (political), capital and most populous city of the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia, and the Ranked lists of Spanish municipalities#By population, seventh largest city i ...
), Spain. It has infra-Mediterranean vegetation and one of the richest seabeds in the southeast of the peninsula, especially due to its populations of oceanic ''
Posidonia ''Posidonia'' is a genus of flowering plants. It contains nine species of marine plants ("seagrass"), found in the seas of the Mediterranean and around the south coast of Australia. The APG system (1998) and APG II system (2003) accept this ge ...
''. It is a place of passage and sighting of dolphins and has an important colony of seagulls. Geologically it belongs to the
Subbaetic System The Subbaetic or Sub-Baetic System ( or ''Cordillera Subbética'') is one of the three systems of mountain ranges of the Baetic System in the southern Iberian Peninsula. Highest point high Peña de la Cruz in Sierra Arana. Its northern limit i ...
, as a part of the Maláguide and Alpujárride systems. During the Late Roman period (5th c.), a
garum Garum is a fermentation (food), fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, Ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Greece, Ancient Roman cuisine, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantine cuisine, Byzantium. Liquamen is a si ...
factory was erected in the island, with several processing vats. It has been declared a Protected Natural Area. It has been proposed that the oronym "''Fraile''" ("Friar") could have evolved from the term "''farellón''" (equivalent to '' farallón'', 'sea stack'). It is a popular place for practicing nautical sports due to its particular orography and the protection it offers from the east, the predominant wind on its coast.


References

Landforms of the Region of Murcia Underwater diving sites Uninhabited islands of Spain {{Murcia-geo-stub