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Throwing some light on the subject
 Malcolm
Rogers heads for Andalusia and the Coast of Light.
Looking south from Cape Trafalgar you gaze across the turquoise seas
to Africa just some 10 miles away.
And it’s hard not to contemplate that but for a lucky wind which
helped Nelson to a jammy away win, today we’d be feeding the London
pigeons in La Plaza de Trafalgar and not Trafalgar Square.
But it wasn’t to be and many would add the word unfortunately
because we seem inordinately fond of Spain.
Today it is the country most visited by the Irish almost 25 per
cent of our foreign holidays are spent in the land of paellas and prawns
without the cocktail where you can stay-up as late as you want
and there is a constitutionally guaranteed nap in the afternoon.
You don’t even have to stay with all those other Irish people.
If you want something authentically Spanish, head for the Atlantic coast,
known to the Spanish as the Costa de la Luz ‘the Coast of
Light’.
Not so long ago Spain’s far south-west coast between Tarifa and
the River Guadalquivir was a lost and lonely corner.
Few visitors lingered in Tarifa a bleak garrison settlement guarding
the Straits of Gibraltar.
Here Guzman The Good sacrificed his son rather than surrender the 10th-century
castle to the Moors and street names still recall military heroes stretching
back a thousand years.
In these parts when the relentless wind from the east blows (the
Levante) the dogs howl and fishing boats run for harbour.
Today, however, when you drive into town you can easily imagine you’ve
stumbled into Southern California.
The winds still blow and the dogs still howl but Tarifa is thriving and
stuffed with bars, restaurants and hotels.
The reason? Those very same winds that upset the dogs have enticed windsurfers,
surfers and kite-boarders from all over Europe.
But you don’t have to surf or sail to appreciate this corner of
Spain. Take the N340 northwest from Tarifa and you pass miles of pine-fringed,
white sandy beaches, picturesque hilltop villages, Roman ruins, ancient
towns and sherry vineyards.
A Roman city once stood next to the beach at Bolonia; today it’s
a quiet, tranquil place to stroll, surrounded by white sandy beaches,
waving palm trees and the backdrop of St. Bartholomew’s Mountain.
Typical of most Spanish towns on this coast, ‘chiringitos’
dot the beach. Here you’ll be able to buy barbecued fish or steaks
along with a cold beer or aglass of wine.
Nearby, on the headland at Los Canos de Meca, stands the Cape Trafalgar
lighthouse.
Take a drink at the Sajorami Beach restaurant and watch the sun go down
over the scene of one of the greatest naval battles.
Just inland is Vejer de la Frontera a village whose white houses
tumble over the steep Colina hill like scattered confetti.
Best to park on the steep access road and take a walk if you want to explore
its labyrinthine streets.
Further inland lie other medieval townships like Medina Sidonia and Arcos
de la Frontera once in the frontline of the battles between Moors
and Christians.
About a half hour’s drive from ancient Medina is even more ancient
Cadiz with reasonable claims to being the oldest city in Europe.
Here is the quintessential Andalusian city with the scent of orange blossom
and jasmine filling the air.
Ancient narrow cobbled streets follow a road map begun by the Phoenicians
some 3,000 years ago and a massive cathedral boasting decidedly Moorish
influences dominates the sea front.
The whole island city is surrounded by an impossibly blue Atlantic and
on the salt marshes on the approach to the walled city, those aristocrats
of the bird world, the flamingoes, stand eternal guard.
From here it’s a mere stone’s throw to Spain’s sherry
country the word ‘sherry’ derives from the city of
Jerez where huge bodegas house barrels of the stuff.
This is also one of the best areas in Spain to sample fresh seafood. At
El Puerto de Santa Maria head straight for the waterfront.
First stop is one of the ‘cocederos’, eating places specialising
in shellfish. At the legendary Romerijo, you can choose from an eye-boggling
array of more than 25 different shellfish, from crab legs to winkles.
Hardcore prawn indeed. Sold by weight and dispensed in paper bags, the
custom is to retire to a table to eat the fish with your fingers while
slugging down a chilled beer or ‘fino’, or a chilled dry sherry.
Yes, it may not have occurred to you before to slug-down a sherry but
that’s exactly what the Spanish do and it would be less
than polite not to follow suite.
After your starters at the harbour it’s time for a tapas tour
try your lobster, langostino or Manchego cheese should be washed down
with a glass of cava, champagne’s elegant Iberian cousin. And you
won’t find it difficult in El Puerto to find a bar apparently
there are 800 in the city. Even by Irish standards that’s not bad
going.
Columbus spent the years 1483 to 1486 in El Puerto, before embarking on
his voyage to America.
Maybe he was reluctant to leave and who could blame him?
Having to forsake all that wine, seafood and sunshine in return for a
very uncertain journey to the New World. No contest, you would have thought.
Tourism offices:
Andalusia Tourism Office
Tel: 00 34 951 29 93 00
www.andalucia.org
El Puerto de Santa Maria
Tel. 00 34 956 54 24 75
www.elpuertosm.es
Medina Sidonia
Tel: 00 34 956 41 24 04
www.de-la-frontera.com
Tarifa
Tel: 00 34 956 68 09 93
www.aytotarifa.com |
