The Costa de la Luz in the Province of Cádiz (in southwestern Spain) has beautiful Atlantic facing beaches; wide, flat with fine sand and long stretches to walk. The town of Los Caños de Meca, where our accommodations were located is home to the Trafalgar lighthouse. The lighthouse is located on a headland where the 1805 naval Battle of Trafalgar, in which the Royal Navy defeated Napoleon’s combined Spanish and French fleet, took place off the cape.
A road exists but the strong winds off of the Atlantic have blown the sand across much of it, so the walk requires lots of slogging through sand Lawrence of Arabia style.
The lighthouse is still in use, and looked like a searchlight from our B&B late at night. The light is now automated and the keeper’s quarters are supposedly no longer in use (though we did see a port-o-john and laundry hanging on a clothesline) so the building is fenced off. But the climb to the top of the Cape of Trafalgar is still possible. A road exists but the strong winds off of the Atlantic have blown the sand across much of it, so the walk requires lots of slogging through sand Lawrence of Arabia style. But the views are well worth it. And just north of the lighthouse the protected beach with fewer crashing waves made for a great place to swim.
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The port of Tarifa and the Pueble Blanco (White Village) of Vejer had lime-washed walls, sandstone battlements, views from on high, Moorish influenced doorways and a labyrinth of streets bedecked with bright flowers. We roamed in the afternoon while the locals took siesta and had these places to ourselves.
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The Romans landed on the shores of the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 3rd century BC as they sought control of the Western Mediterranean. The ruins can be found at the beach in Bolonia, just west of Tarifa.
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We tried to hit the beach at Bolonia that day, but the winds of the levante, the hot east wind, pelted us with sand. The windsurfers and kite surfers loved it, though!
Next up ~ The tastes of Southern Spain…
Great photos- so beautiful !