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Punta Paloma
One of Andalucía's most fabulous beaches, Punta Paloma, 10km northwest of Tarifa, is famous for its huge blond sand dune. At its far western end, you can lather yourself up in a natural mud bath.
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Southeast Cádiz Province & the Costa de la Luz
Arriving on the Costa de la Luz from the Costa del Sol is like flinging open the window and breathing in the glorious fresh air. Bereft of tacky resorts and unplanned development, this is a world of flat-capped farmers, grazing bulls and furtive slugs of dry sherry with lunchtime tapas. Throw in beautiful blonde, windswept beaches, a buzzing surfing/kitesurfing scene and a string of spectacularly located white towns, and you’re unequivocally back in Andalucía. Spaniards, well aware of this, flock to places like Tarifa, Zahara de los Atunes and Los Caños de Meca in July and August. It's by no means a secret, but the stunning Costa de la Luz remains the same old laid-back beachy hangout it's always been, admittedly with a little upmarket flair creeping in around Vejer de la Frontera.
The Costa de la Luz continues west into neighbouring Huelva province, up to the Portugal border.
Top attractions
These are our favorite local haunts, touristy spots, and hidden gems throughout Southeast Cádiz Province & the Costa de la Luz.
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Playa de Valdevaqueros
Sprawling between 7km and 10km northwest of Tarifa, to the great white dune at Punta Paloma, Valdevaqueros is one of Tarifa's most popular kitesurfing beaches, blessed with dusty alabaster-hued sand, aqua waters and a few summer beach bars.
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Baelo Claudia
The ruined town of Baelo Claudia is one of Andalucía's most important Roman archaeological sites. These majestic beachside ruins – with views across to Morocco – include the substantial remains of a theatre, a paved forum, thermal baths, a market and the columns of a basilica, and the workshops that turned out the products that made Baelo Claudia famous in the Roman world: salted fish and garum (spicy seasoning made from leftover fish parts). There's a good museum.
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Parque Natural de la Breña y Marismas del Barbate
This 50-sq-km coastal park protects important marshes, cliffs and pine forest from Costa del Sol–type development. Its main entry point is a 7.2km (two-hour) walking trail, the Sendero del Acantilado, between Los Caños de Meca and Barbate, along cliff tops that rival Cabo de Gata in their beauty.
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Castillo de Guzmán El Bueno
Though built in 960 on the orders of Cordoban caliph Abd ar-Rahman III, this restored fortress is named after Reconquista hero Guzmán El Bueno. In 1294, when threatened with the death of his captured son unless he surrendered the castle to Merenid attackers from Morocco, El Bueno threw down his own dagger for his son's execution. Guzmán’s descendants later became the Duques de Medina Sidonia, one of Spain’s most powerful families. Above the interior entrance, note the 10th-century castle-foundation inscription.
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Castillo de Jimena
Jimena's romantically ruined 13th-century Nasrid castle, built on Roman ruins, once formed part of a defence line stretching from Olvera down through Setenil de las Bodegas, Zahara de la Sierra, Castellar de la Frontera and Algeciras to Tarifa. It was taken by the Christians in 1456.
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Walls
Enclosing the 40,000-sq-metre old town, Vejer’s imposing 15th-century walls are particularly visible between the Arco de la Puerta Cerrada (of 11th- or 12th-century origin) and the 15th-century Arco de la Segur, two of the four original gateways to survive. The area around the Arco de la Segur and Calle Judería was, in the 15th century, the judería (Jewish quarter). Start with the 10th- or 11th-century Puerta de Sancho IV (another surviving gateway) next to Plaza de España and work round.
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Estatua de la Cobijada
Just below the castle is a lookout guarded by this statue of a woman dressed in Vejer's cloak-like, all-black traditional dress, the cobijada, which covers the entire body except the right eye. Despite its similarities to Islamic clothing, the cobijada is believed to be of 16th- or 17th-century Christian origin; it was banned in the 1930s and, after the civil war, few women had managed to hang on to their full outfits. Today it appears only for local festivities.
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Iglesia Santa María Mayor
With its Renaissance door giving way to a hushed Gothic-Mudéjar cloister, this 16th-century Gothic-Renaissance beauty stands on the place of an old mosque. The interior shines for its 22-image, plateresque main altarpiece, completed in 1584, and its 17th-century Cristo del Perdón (Christ of Forgiveness) carving by Sevillan baroque sculptor Pedro Roldán. Detailed information panels are in Spanish, English and German.