Thursday, September 21, 2023

The Kingdom of Tabarca


Tabarca is a small island, or islet, located in the Mediterranean Sea, close to the town of Santa Pola, in the Valencian Community. Tabarca is the largest island in the Valencian Community, and the smallest permanently inhabited islet in Spain. It is known for its marine reserve. Only fifty people live on the island.

 

Bernat is the king of Tabarca and he lives in a palace with six bedrooms. He doesn’t just sit on his throne in the palace all day long. He takes care of all of the chickens and rabbits on the island. The island has two national dishes: paella and tortilla de patatas so rabbits and chickens are very important.The island is very famous for the good food in its restaurants.


Marcel is the chief of police on the island. He puts criminals in jail, and he makes sure that people aren't doing anything that is illegal, against the law. Lots of pirates visit the island so the chief of police is very busy.

 


He rides around the island on a push scooter. Electric scooters are illegal on Tabarca and the island is too small for a police car, but perfect for a police scooter. His scooter has flashing lights and a siren. It’s a cool scooter.


One day, the chief of police was walking down a street and he could smell chorizo cooking in someone's kitchen. The house was rented to a group of pirates on vacation who were staying on the island. Marcel knocked on the door of the house. A pirate answered the door.

"Excuse me, sir, but are you making paella with chorizo?" he asked the pirate.

"Yes, we are. It's going to be really good. Do you want some?"

"I'm sorry, but putting chorizo in paella is against the law in Tabarca. It's illegal."

"I'm sorry, we didn't know," the pirate said, trying to sound innocent.

"How could you not know that chorizo in paella is illegal? There are signs all over the island."


It was true. The chief of police put signs everywhere telling people about this law. Marcel walked only three steps from the door of the pirates' house and took a poster down  off the wall. He showed it to the pirate.

He gave the pirate a 1,000 and forced (made) the pirate take all of the chorizo out of the paella.

"We are civilized here on Tabarca. We don't put chorizo in paella. Without laws, we would be nothing more than animals. You can cook whatever you want on your pirate ship, but on this island you must obey our laws."

"1,000€ is a lot of money just for putting chorizo in a rice dish," the pirate said.

"Rules are rules," the chief of police answered. " Then he pointed to the poster again, "Remember, if you do it again, you will be banned from the island."