The island of Asinara, at just under 18 km long and up to 6km wide, is situated in the municipality of Porto Torres (Sassari): in its compact size it manages to be one of the most evocative islands of the Mediterranean, having maintained its naturalistic charm unchanged. Its use as a penal colony for many years fortu-nately meant that it kept the number of visitors to an absolute minimum, favour-ing the preservation of its precious but delicate natural environment. It has been a National Park since 1997, and frequent destination of brief cruises along the coast.
The panorama is decidedly variegated and the presence of a holm oak wood in the Vallombrosa enriches the characteristic vegetation of the Mediterranean brush, that also has examples of rare species like Evax rotundata and Nananthea perpusilla: specimens which enchant the enthusiastic botanist. Among the animals that live there, besides the albino donkeys, are numerous sea birds, mouflon and wild boars.