Cádiz (province)

Cádiz is a province in the Andalusia region of Spain. Tourists are drawn to the region mainly for the kilometres of mostly wide sandy beaches behind protective dunes along the Costa de la Luz. In the nearby hinterland, in the nature parks of the Sierra Grazalema and Sierra Alcornocales, there is a quiet mountain landscape with beautiful hiking trails and spectacular views. The mountain villages there are lined up in a Ruta de Pueblos Blancos (route of the white villages), which crowns the experience of nature. However, the same flair can also be experienced in many of the coastal villages.

• 36.535-6.29751 Cádiz the provincial capital has an extensive old city and fortifications.
• 36.7-6.1166672 Jerez de la Frontera is the chief city of the "sherry triangle" and has a fine cathedral.
• 36.778889-6.3538893 Sanlúcar de Barrameda is west tip of the "sherry triangle" and has horse-racing on the beach.
• 36.73663-6.437034 Chipiona is a beach resort on the Costa de la Luz.
• 36.601468-6.2381495 El Puerto de Santa María is south tip of the "sherry triangle".
• 36.346667-6.1655566 Novo Sancti Petri is a large seaside resort.
• 36.267-6.0837 Conil de la Frontera
• 36.18997-5.9200978 Barbate is a fishing port further down the coast.
• 36.015306-5.6056679 Tarifa has ferries to Tangier, a picturesque old town and a breezy beach for windsurfers.
• 36.1275-5.45388910 Algeciras is a grubby port with ferries to North Africa.
• 36.168-5.34711 La Línea de la Concepción is the way to reach Gibraltar.
• 36.467-5.71712 Alcala de los Gazules
• 36.75-5.813 Arcos de la Frontera
• 36.679747-5.44519514 Ubrique is an attractive pueblo blanco between two national parks.
• 36.767-5.36715 Grazalema
• 36.838-5.3916 Zahara de la Sierra
• 36.881111-5.40555617 Algodonales is at the north entrance of Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park.
• 36.93465-5.25990718 Olvera perched high on a hill has a magnificent church and a Moorish castle.

• 36.4942-6.21691 Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park
• 36.183333-6.0333332 Cabo de Trafalgar — Cape on the Atlantic Ocean, steeped in history, near the site of a famed battle between the British navy, and the combined French and Spanish navies in 1805
• Parque natural de La Breña y Marismas del Barbate to the south, between the coastal towns of Los Canos de Meca and Barbate
• Baelo Claudia is a well-preserved Roman city with an ancient fish sauce factory
• Puerto de la Paloma offers a great panoramic view under vultures
• El Palmar, a surfing paradise between Conil and Vejer
• 36.2831-5.32743 Real Club Valderrama above Sotogrande is probably Spain's top golf course.

In contrast to the Costa del Sol on the Mediterranean, the wind-blown coast is much more varied with intermediate cliffs and narrow bays underneath, but above all it is not yet so developed by mass tourism. What is particularly striking is the absence of huge apartment complexes. Most of the time, the focus of accommodation options is on small, often family-run hotels or holiday apartments. The Spanish Atlantic coast offers special attractions, especially for windsurfers, while beach holidaymakers, on the other hand, have to be prepared for an occasionally harsher climate.

The province of Cádiz was shaped by the Moors until the 13th century, and the town centres developed at that time have often been preserved to this day. The area was hotly contested at the time of the Christian reconquest, the many castles and watchtowers still bear witness to this today. The addition "de la frontera" for many place names also comes from this time when the respective places were border towns between the Moorish and Christian sides.

For centuries, the area has lived on tuna fishing and its processing, which can still be seen today in the public buildings. In most of the fortifications, small fish processing facilities are integrated, which were important centers of public life until the last century.

The largest and economically most agile city is Jerez, but most of the inhabitants gather around the bay (Bahia) of Cádiz, which seems to grow together with the area of ​​Chiclana more and more into a single economic area.

The people of Cádiz speak Spanish, although there are many varied dialects in each town, encompassed in the Andalusian dialect. The local Andalusian dialect is mainly characterized by a mumbling omission of consonants (Cádiz becomes Cái). The province of Cádiz generally belongs to the lisping part of Andalusia.

Jerez (XRY ^IATA) is the regional airport. Others are in Málaga, Seville and Gibraltar.

Algeciras has helicopter flights from Ceuta in North Africa.

Ferries criss-cross the Strait of Gibraltar, sailing year-round and carrying vehicles. From Tangier city they sail to Tarifa - this is often the most convenient route, as the city has buses and trains from the rest of Morocco.

Ferries to Algeciras sail from Tanger Med 30 km northeast of Tangier city, so this works better with your own vehicle.

Ferries also sail from Ceuta to Algeciras and to Gibraltar.

Trains from Madrid run via Seville to Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz city.

They also run from Madrid via Córdoba, Antequera and Ronda to Algeciras.

From Madrid, take A-4 (toll) / E5 south via Seville to Jerez, Cádiz and Tarifa.

Branch off at Jerez for A-381 to Algeciras.

AP-7 runs the length of the Mediterranean coast from the French border via Barcelona, València, Alicante, Almería, Málaga and Marbella to Algeciras.

Buses run from Madrid to Jerez and Cádiz. One epic bus treks from A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela in the northwest via Salamanca to Jerez and Cádiz.

Many of the pueblos blancos (white villages) are to be found in Cadiz. In particular, Alcala de los Gazules, Grazalema, and Zahara de la Sierra are very attractive and excellent walking centres.

• Camara Oscura. The Camara Oscura is a periscope type system mounted on the top of an old tower. It projects its image into a horizontally mounted concave dish about 6 foot in diameter. What you see is a real-time projection of the city, people hanging their laundry on rooftop balconies, birds flying by and ships passing each other out on the ocean. Moving pictures!

• A two-week flamenco festival takes place in Jerez de la Frontera every year at the end of February.
• Feria del Caballo, the horse fair, the festival week is at the beginning of May in the González de Hontoria Parkin Jerez de la Frontera. It dates back to 1284 and was initially a cattle market. There are numerous events, show jumping tournaments, dressage competitions, horse rallies, exhibitions and auctions.
• The Carnival in Cadiz is famous nationwide. In addition to a parade with themed wagons, small groups roam the streets and talk about current events. This "cabaret" as well as the appropriate costumes are practiced all year round, here too the best are awarded at the end. Similar to Rio de Janeiro, the carnival here lasts a week longer. The best groups are allowed to show their skills in the streets the following weekend. Unfortunately you need a very good knowledge of Spanish or Andalusian to understand the sophisticated puns.

One of the things that visitors will always remember about Cadiz is the food. It is typical to eat "little fish" and the delicious prawns, but there are some inland villages where hare, partridge, and some game specimens are cooked. At night there are many bars that open along the promenades and you can really enjoy the tranquility of the sea and the charm of Cadiz. It is a beautiful place to which adding gastronomy becomes luxurious. In Chipiona there is a bar called "El Salaito", where you can eat very well.

Sanlucar de la Barameda, Jerez de la Frontera, and Puerto de Santa Maria, form what is known as the Sherry Triangle in the Cadiz province. Each city specializes in particular types of sherry; Sanlucar produces Manzanilla which is soft enough to taste like a white wine and Jerez produces Fino which is a very dry sherry.

• Hotel BahiaSur, Caño Herrera, S/N 11100 San Fernando (Cádiz), ☏ +34 956 88 00 86, info@hotelbahiasur.com.  (updated Sep 2018)

Conil de la Frontera is a beach resort 48 km south of Cadiz.

• Hostal Torre de Guzman, Calle Hospital, 5 11140 Conil de la Frontera, ☏ +34 956 44 30 61. A two-star hostel 150 m from the beach of Los Bateles and the historic center. 
• Hotel Fuerte Conil-Costa Luz, Playa de la Fontanilla, s/n - 11140 Conil de la Frontera, ☏ +34 95 644 33 44. This exclusive four-star Conil de la Frontera hotel is of traditional Andalucian design surrounded by almost 25,000 m² of breath-taking gardens. 
• Hotel Almenara, Avenida Almenara, Sotogrande, ☏ +34 95 6582000. 4-star hotel in the tranquillity of Sotogrande. There are 148 rooms available, a golf course, a spa, a gym and swimming pools. Rooms from €107. 

While mostly safe, the Cadiz Province does suffer from high unemployment and income inequality. Because of that, do be careful if you decide to venture off the beaten path in places like Jerez and Algeciras.