Arrábida Natural Park

Arrábida Natural Park (Portuguese: Parque Natural da Arrábida) is a natural park located on the northern shore of the Sado River estuary in Portugal. Founded in 1976 and covering 108 square kilometres (42 sq mi), it is one of the 30 areas which are officially under protection in the country.

The park covers the Arrábida Hills, the Mediterranean-like vegetation and microclimate of which resemble Adriatic locations such as Dalmatia. The highest point in the park is the Serra da Arrábida at an elevation of 499 metres (1,637 ft). Two of the park's beaches—Portinho da Arrábida and Figueirinha—are popular among the inhabitants of Lisbon and Setúbal. The former, on a small bay, and with a little island off the shore, is especially famous, being a regular feature on Portuguese TV commercials. In 2004, a fire destroyed a significant part of the park, which is now slowly recovering.

Popular culture

A stretch of road in the natural park is notable for being the scene in the 1969 James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service where Tracy Bond (played by Diana Rigg) is shot dead by Irma Bunt (Ilse Steppat) in a drive-by shooting at the end of the film.[1]

Arrábida is depicted in the video game Tom Clancy's Endwar as one of the theatres in World War III, when the U.S. Army invades Portugal in an attempt to weaken the European Federation's defences.

References

  1. ^ Locations for On Her Majesty's Secret Service at the Internet Movie Database

External links