Cadiz Property - Zones and Maps - Costa de la Luz
Towns and Villages
- Trebujena
- Sanlucar de Barrameda
- Chipiona
- Rota
- El Peuerto de Santa Maria
- Cadiz
- Conil de la Frontera
- Barbate
- Tarifa
- Zahara de los Atunes
- Vejer de la Frontera
- Chiclana de la Frontera
- San Fernando
- Puerto Real
- Jerez de la Frontera
Map of the Costa de la Luz
Cádiz
Virtually an island, Cádiz is surrounded
by the sea on all sides, connected to the mainland
by a thin strip of land 8km long. This peninsula
separates the Bay of Cádiz, a large natural
harbour, from the sea. Today, Cádiz is
an evocative and enchanting city. It is still
surrounded by fortified walls, which were built
in the 19th century to protect the city from
foreign attacks by sea. Old men can be seen
casting their rods over the sides of this wall
into the sea 30 feet below, where huge fish
nibble at hunks of bread floating on the surface
of the water. Elegant, tall houses line the
long and narrow streets opening out onto leafy
squares in which bands play on summer evenings.
Despite being such a fascinating and beautiful
city, Cádiz has managed to escape relatively
unscathed by tourism.
Cádiz is said to be the oldest continuously
inhabited town in Western Europe. It was founded
by the Phoenicians in 1100BC who named the city
Gaadar, meaning enclosure, a name which was
later corrupted to Gades by the Romans, under
whom the city flourished. During Moorish rule,
Cádiz went into decline until the 16th
century when trade with the New World became
important to Spain. During the 18th and 19th
centuries, Cádiz prospered and many of
the important buildings in the city date from
this period.
The enormous gold-domed cathedral dominates
the southern half of the town and stands as
testimony to the prosperity enjoyed by Cádiz
in years gone by. South of the Plaza Catedral
is all that remains of medieval Cádiz,
the Barrio de Pópulo, whose entrance
is marked by a medieval arch. North of the cathedral
is Plaza Topete where a colourful and photogenic
flower market is held and a little further on,
the town's fresh produce market is held in a
19th century market building.
South of the old town, the city becomes a grid
of unattractive modern housing blocks which
run alongside Playa de Victoria, Cádiz's
beach. On the strip of land connecting Cádiz
to the main land is the continuation of this
beach, Playa Cortaduna, along with a dual carriageway
and a rail line. The strip is just wide enough
to accommodate the transport routes.
The people of Cádiz are famous for both
their excellent food and their sense of humour.
Evidence of the former can be found in the delicious
range of food, especially fresh seafood, offered
by the various bars and restaurants around the
town. Their wit is on full display during Carnival.
Carnival is celebrated just before Lent across
the whole of Spain, but nowhere does it reach
such frenzied and colourful proportions as in
Cádiz. The carnival processions begin
a week before shrove Tuesday and continue until
a week after. Elaborate costumes and figurines
are made and paraded through the street and
comical tableaux are acted out. The humour is
subtle, clever and hilarious to the locals,
although outsiders will find it difficult or
impossible to grasp. People travel from all
over to Cádiz for Carnival and the town
is lively and bursting for the entire two weeks.
Although on a peninsula, Cádiz has excellent
road and rail connections, main roads run both
south to San Fernando and north to El Puerto
and Jerez via a bridge over the narrow entrance
to the Bay of Cádiz. The rail line runs
south to San Fernando and then north to Seville.
Cádiz is 35km from the airport at Jerez
and 130km from Seville.
Bay of Cádiz
This area is quite heavily industrialized and
a number of towns encircle the Bay of Cádiz.
A large portion of this area used to be taken
up by salt works and a few of these are still
in operation. Some of the salt works have been
transformed into fisheries, most of them however,
are now an important nature reserve for migratory
birds.
San Fernando
Sprawled along the Bay of Cádiz, San
Fernando is a modern town of 87,000 inhabitants.
It was known as La Isla de León because
of its geographical position among the salt
flats and next to the ocean and its inhabitants
still refer to San Fernando as “La Isla”.
Due to the existence of the Marina de la Carraca
Arsenal in the town, it has an important history
in naval construction and the salt works near
to the town have traditionally been significant
to the town’s economy. The houses in the
old town are typically Andalucían with
traditional doors and façades and iron
wrought windows. The Marina Astronomical Observatory
was built there in the 18th century, the oldest
observatory in Spain. Peculiar to San Fernado
is a shellfish dish known as “Bocas de
la Isla” which is made a type of crab
whose claws, when severed, grow back. San Fernando
is 10km south of Cádiz.
Chiclana de la Frontera
To the south of the Bay of Cádiz, Chiclana
is a modern urban centre with an typical Andalucían
old town of narrow streets, flower bedecked
balconies and courtyards. Its 50,000 inhabitants
are noted for preserving Andalucían traditions
such as bullfighting, flamenco and wine production.
There is a puppet factory in the town that produces
puppets dressed in traditional Andalucían
dress. West of Chiclana, along a small country
road, is the village of Sancti Petri where,
at low tide, the Island of Sancti Petri is accessible.
A ruined Roman temple dedicated to Hercules
stands on the Island.
Puerto Real
This university town whose current population
is 37,000, became the Royal Village of Puerto
Real in the 15th century when the Catholic Kings
were redistributing land in Spain and realised
that they needed to creat a port that belonged
to the state. Differentiated by the other towns
around the Bay of Cádiz by the pine groves
which surround it, Puerto Real was developed
with a uniform city design, its streets arranged
on a grid pattern as they still are today. It
is still used as a port and the naval and ship
building industries are still important to the
town's economy. Some of the faculties of the
university of Cádiz are located in Puerto
Real and consequently it is a vibrant town with
important cultural events taking place all year
round which encompass theatre, literature and
art. The sports facilities in the town are excellent,
there is an olympic sized swimming pool and
a well equipped sports centre. Puerto Real is
seperated from the capital of Cádiz by
a bridge which crosses the Bay of Cádiz.
El Puerto de Santa Maria
Located at he mouth of the River Guadelete to
the north of the Bay of Cádiz, El Puerto
is a town of 79,000 people. It was an important
port and exporter of wines in the 15th century
and today it is a summer resort, popular with
residents of nearby Jerez. There has been widespread
modern development but the old town is pleasant,
its tall 18th and 19th century houses arranged
on a grid pattern and reminiscent of the streets
of Cádiz itself. The 13th Castle of San
Marcos which was built by Alfonso X is an important
historical site. It was built on the site of
a former mosque. The bullring in El Puerto is
also important amongst bullfighting aficionados.
There is a plaque inside containing a quote
from a famous bullfighter that reads "he
who has not seen the bulls at El Puerto does
not know what a bullfight is like." A number
of old wine cellars can be visited in the town.
During the summer, an old fashioned boat called
a "vapor" runs from El Puerto to Cádiz,
the service being operated by a Galician family
who have run it since 1929. El Puerto's beaches
are situated to the west of the centre at Valdelagrana,
which is a smart resort that seems to ignore
the industrial landscape that it is set in.
El Puerto is 18km from Cádiz and 24km
from the airport at Jerez on main roads.
Rota
An old village to the west of El Puerto with
a population of 25,000, Rota is a seaside resort.
Away from the industry near to Cádiz,
the village has a picturesque main square, a
castle that has been heavily restored and an
elegant 15th century church. A less than attractive
American military base has been built next to
the village. There are some lovely beaches near
to Rota, including the 4km stretch at La Costilla,
Punta Candor, which is edged by huge pine groves
and La Ballena to the south. As a growing resort
Rota has a number of discos, bars and restaurants
catering to international tourism, although
most of the tourists are Spanish. Sports facilities
in Rota include a Tennis Club, a Horse Club,
a Hunting and Fishing Centre and a sports Centre.
More development is planned near to La Ballena
beach. Rota is 15km east of El Puerto.
Jerez de la Frontera
The busy, cosmopolitan city of Jerez is the
largest in the Cádiz province in terms
of population with 185,000 inhabitants. It is
an important business centre rich in history
and tradition. Famous for its sherry, Jerez
has been exporting wine to England as early
as the 16th century and many people became rich
from the sherry industry. Consequently, many
of these "sherry magnates" moved to
Jerez and even today, the city has a reputation
of being the home of the "señorito"
or "toff", a legacy of the time when
the rich of Jerez copied the social mannerisms
of the English aristocracy. Today, the town
is a mixture of modern, ugly development, spacious
and attractive residential districts and an
attractive, shabby old quarter. It is also the
home of one of Andalucía's oldest gypsy
quarters. In the old quarter and the gypsy quarter,
a maze of narrow streets and old squares meander
around notable churches and renaissance palaces.
There are many important and interesting sites
in Jerez including the Watch Museum where there
is a display of some of the oldest time pieces
in Europe and an Archaeological Museum. Famous
Andalucían horses were bred here traditionally,
which led to the establishment of the Royal
Andalucían School of Equestrian Art,
where you can see the skill and beauty of the
Andalucían horseriding tradition. The
large gypsy population means that the town is
an important centre for flamenco and the tradition
of flamenco art is kept alive at The Andalucian
Flamenco Foundation. There is a Speed Circuit
in the town where world championships in motor
racing are held. In the area surrounding Jerez,
there are mountain ranches where bulls are raised
and amateur bullfights can be seen using young
bulls.
Jerez's airport serves the surrounding region
and is located 4km north of the town. Jerez
is well connected by road and rail to Cadiz,
25km to the south and to Seville, 85km north.
North West of Cádiz
Sanlúcar de Barrameda
Situated at the mouth of the River Guadalquivir,
Sanlúcar is separated by the river from
Doñana Natural Park to the north. A town
of 59,000 people, Sanlúcar was once a
hugely prosperous town and the remains of this
prosperity can be see in the austerity of its
crumbling churches and palaces. In the summer,
Sanlúcar is a busy tourist centre, popular
with mainly Spanish tourists. Its location by
the river means that the beaches are not the
cleanest, the water has a muddy appearance and
the strong currents make swimming difficult.
Sanlúcar has a reputation of fine foods,
particularly seafood and langostinos - large
prawns. It is also famous for the production
of a fortified wine known as Manzanilla. Divided
into the upper town, El Barrio Alto and El Barrio
Bajo, the lower town, the old streets of Sánlucar
are pleasant. Small upper storey balconies overhang
the front doors of the houses, which are often
open and if you glimpse inside, you'll see huge
porches leading to the internal doors, often
elaborately tiled. The main square is spacious
and lined with palms and cafes. At Plaza de
San Roque, the town's market hall contains one
of the best markets in Andalucía, with
a huge range of produce being sold here. Towards
the seafront, most of the buildings are newer
holiday apartments and the road that runs behind
the beach is transformed at night into a main
drag where teenagers loudly parade their neon-decked
cars with elaborate spoilers and their shiny
mopeds in continuous laps up and down the road.
Bajo de Guía, to the north of the town
centre, is the old fishing district-which has
a row of bars along its recently modernized
seafront. On the 15th of August, a fiesta takes
place where the streets are covered with patterns
of multi-coloured sawdust and salt to make a
fantastic "floral carpet". At the
end of August, horse racing takes place up and
down the beach from Sanlúcar to Bajo
de Guía. There is a golf club in Sanlúcar.
Sanlúcar is 35km from Jerez de la Frontera.
4km north of Sanlúcar is the fishing
port on Bonanza where a lively afternoon fish
auction is held.
Trebujena
A village of 7000 inhabitants, the white village
of Trebujena stands in fertile lands that are
well cultivated. Relatively isolated, Trebujena
is surround by gently rolling hills, many of
them covered in sunflowers, which are beautiful
in early summer. By September, the brown skeletons
of the flowers can be seen on their shrunken
stalks, charred by the sun. Trebujena is 35km
from Sanlúcar, near the border with the
province of Seville.
Chipiona
The popular tourist resort of Chipiona has clean,
if crowded beaches. The sea waters are supposedly
iodine rich and Chipiona has long been a tourist
destination. There are numerous Roman ruins
near to the town, as early as 140 BC, a lighthouse
was built in order to guide sailors heading
into the River Guadalquivir around the notorious
reefs in the area. It is an attractive and lively
town, popular with visitors and famous for its
Moscatel wine. Beaches near to Chipiona include
La Regla, Camarón-Tres Piedras, Cruz
del Mar Canteras and Ballena beach to the south.
Chipiona is 9km west of Sanlúcar.
Southern Costa de la Luz
One of the loveliest stretches of coast in Andalucía,
miles of undeveloped beach stretch from Cádiz
90km down to Tarifa in the south. Outside the
main tourist centres, there has been little
building and although it can become crowded
in the high season, these beaches are very different
to those of the more popular Costa del Sol to
the east. The more remote stretches of sand
tend to be naturist areas.
Conil de la Frontera
This popular resort has a population of 16,000
which swells in the summer months with visitors
who come to enjoy the beaches that stretch north
and south from the town. Holiday makers are
mostly Spanish and there are a number of housing
developments and camp sites surrounding the
old town which accomodate these visitors. The
town of whitewashed houses perches on a headland
next to the mouth of the River Salado that enters
the sea here, seperating the beaches to the
south from those to the north. There are a multitude
of restaurants in the town serving excellent
fresh seafood. Conil is 30km south of Cádiz
on the main N340 coastal road.
Vejer de la Frontera
Situated inland on a hill, the white town of
Vejer retains its Moorish origins with a labryinth
of narrow streets and whitewashed houses. The
original Moorish gates still exist and the village
is entered through these gates. In the village,
the 16th century church was built over a mosque
and there is a Moorish castle here from which
excellent views of the surrounding area can
be seen. On Easter Sunday, part of the festivities
include that of a bull with padded horns being
let looase through the streets. Vejer is a small
town of 10,000 inhabitants and is popular with
daytrippers from the coast. Vejer is 55km from
Cádiz, just off the main N340 road.
Barbate
Located at the mouth of the Barbate river, this
modern town is an important fishing centre,
Tuna fish being the speciality of many of the
bars in the town. It is not a particularly attractive
town itself, but with 20,000 inhabitants, it
is an important service centre for the surrounding
area.
Just west of Barbate is the resort of Los Caños
de Meca, a resort by a very picturesque stretch
of beach that has been growing over the last
few years. In contrast to the other tourist
centres in the area, Los Caños attracts
a number of German and other northern European
holiday makers as well as Spanish and French.
It has a reputation of being a "hippy"
centre and as well as the usual tourists, a
number of unorthodox people live near the beach
during the summer. The stretch of sand from
Los Caños down to Barbate is particularly
attractive and at the furthest point, a spring
water shoots down over the face of the cliff
forming a natural shower. To the other side
of Los Caños is the Cape of Trafalgar,
where Admiral Nelson famously defeated French
and Spanish fleets far larger than his own.
The Cape is a wonderful place for watching sunsets
although the currents in the ocean are notorious
in this area and care should be taken if swimming
here. Barbate and Los Caños are approximately
40km from Cádiz, 14km off the main N34o
coastal road.
Zahara de los Atunes
A low key, attractive resort blessed with beautiful
sweeps of sand stretching both north and south
from the town, Zahara is a mainly Spanish resort
with a population of 15,000. A large, decaying
fortress is situated on the beach of the town
and the sand stretches from here to Barbate,
12km north down to Bolonia, 15km south. Much
of the land to the south of Zahara is owned
by the military and to reach the tiny resort
of Bolonia, a 30km detour inland must be taken.
The surfers mecca of Bolonia is located next
to a small but attractive beach. It is popular
in the summer and barely has enough parking
spaces to accomodate its visitors.
Tarifa
Tarifa is set on the southernmost point in Spain,
just 14km from Africa. It was the first town
in Spain to be captured by the Moors and takes
its name from Tariqibn Malik, a Moorish leader.
A 10th century Moorish castle still stands in
the town. Today, Tarifa is a surfer’s
paradise. Thanks to its position where the Mediterranean
meets the Atlantic, the winds usually blow strongly
enough for windsurfers and kitesurfers alike.
The Levante wind is notorious here and when
it blows, only the most experienced of windsurfers
venture out to sea. A beautiful 9km sweep of
sand stretches west from the town and is undeveloped
despite attracting a huge number of tourists,
due to its national park status. The town itself
is largely devoted to surf shops and laid back
cafes that line the main street. The old part
of the town however is a delightful maze of
narrow, sloping, cobbled streets that meander
past white buildings bedecked with foliage and
open out onto quiet squares. Just next to the
town on the hills behind the beaches is a large
windfarm, which stretches towards Algeciras,
the modern windmills gathered on the hills generate
a surreal image. Despite the large number of
tourists that Tarifa attracts, it is a quiet
town during the day as most of them are at the
beach. it comes to life at night however when
the bars and the restaurants become packed with
partygoers.
Ferries run from the port at Tarifa to Tangers
in Morroco and take 45 minutes. There are numerous
shops offering kitesurfing lessons and watersports
on offer include kitesurfing, windsurfing, surfing,
bodyboarding, skimboarding, just for starters.
The Foundation for Information and Research
on Marine Mammals has an office in Tarifa and
offers whale and dolphin watching trips in the
Strait of Gibraltar where the Atlantic meets
the Mediterranean, attracting a number of species
of Cetaceans.
A town of 16,000 people, there are 3 supermarkets
in Tarifa, a number of internet shops, and plenty
of bars, cafes and restaurants. Tarifa is 35km
from Algeciras and 110km from Cádiz.