The city of Cádiz and surrounding area
Cádiz, together with its surrounding province, occupies an area of 7,400 square kilometres, divided into 45 municipalities. It is interesting that the provincial capital, dedicated mainly to services, tourism and local government, is neither the largest municipality (13.3 square kilometres), nor the most highly populated: its population numbers around 117,000.
Jerez de la Frontera can claim that distinction, with its population of around 213,000. It is historically important and, with its wineries including Tío Pepe, Fundador, Lustau, and Williams & Humbert, it has a close association with the world of wine. It is therefore worth making the journey of slightly over 35 kilometres to get to know Jerez de la Frontera.
Also not far away are El Puerto de Santa María, Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Chipiona, and Rota. They all share Cádiz’s marine influence. The area’s urban, agricultural, industrial and tourist development are all closely bound up with the sea and with Spain’s profitable trans-Atlantic relationship with America.
Beyond the bay of Cádiz lie a good handful of places with sufficient attractions to justify a visit. The nearest is San Fernando, joined to Cádiz by the Cortadura isthmus. One of the most noteworthy features of this town is the Real Instituto y Observatorio de la Armada, an institution housing a museum which is an essential visit for anyone interested in sailing.
Further away are the long beaches of Chiclana, the coves known as the Calas de Roche, the pretty white town of Conil, and the Playa de El Palmar. El Palmar beach belongs to Vejer de la Frontera and, still within sight of the sea, links up with Barbate and Zahara de los Atunes, both famous for their almadraba tuna.
On its own merits, Vejer has earned a place on the list of “the prettiest towns in Spain”. Other Cádiz towns and villages also appear on this list, and are brought together under the so-called Route of the White Villages: Zahara de la Sierra, Grazalema, and Setenil de las Bodegas. All three are impressive in terms of their beauty, their traditional atmosphere, their co-existence with their natural surroundings, and their gastronomy, where the starring role is played by the cheese made with milk from Payoya goats.
The first stop on the Route of the White Villages is Arcos de la Frontera. A real picture-postcard scene, perched as it is at the head of a gorge over the Guadalete riverbed. This is the river that enters the sea in El Puerto de Santa María, and which is the reason why Cádiz today is not an archipelago, but a peninsula joined in its turn to the Iberian Peninsula.
When talking about the area surrounding Cádiz, one should not fail to mention Tarifa and Gibraltar (although the latter is considered British, and not Spanish, territory). Located at either end of the Strait of Gibraltar on its European side, and reminding us that Africa is very close by, little more than half an hour away by ferry.
This is particularly true of Tarifa, which still retains much of its layout from the time of Moorish domination. And let us not forget that it was here, in this very place, that the forces led by the Berber commander Tariq launched the Moorish conquest of the Peninsula in 711 AD.
Long before then, however, this stretch of Cádiz’s coastline had known periods of splendour—as can be seen from the Roman archaeological remains at Baelo Claudia, close to Bolonia beach. Year after year, this features in the list of Spain’s finest beaches. The huge sand dune that marks its boundary at one end, crowned by lush plant growth, has become an emblem of the province of Cádiz.
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