Location

This is the southernmost province on the Iberian peninsula, and is only 14 km. from Africa.

It borders the provinces of Seville and Huelva in the north, the province of Malaga to the east, the Atlantic Ocean in the southwest, the Mediterranean Sea in the southeast, and the Strait of Gibraltar and the British colony of Gibraltar in the south.

History

Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans peopled this province and left behind an important testimony of their presence all along the Cadiz coast.

What’s more, a series of historic milestones highlight how closely Cadiz is linked to the rest of the Iberian peninsula: in 711, the Muslims conquered these lands by defeating the Visigoths at the Guadalete river, thus changing the course of history; on three occasions Columbus’ ships set sail from here on his voyages to the New World, and arrived home in these same ports, which over time were transformed into a meeting point for the cultural currents between Andalusia and America; finally, another important event was the signing in Cadiz in 1812 of the first Spanish Constitution, which made the city into the capital of the nation for three years.

Landscape

Its 260 kilometres of Atlantic coastline feature long beaches with fine sand, many of them undeveloped and not excessively exploited for tourism. The whole coast is part of the Costa de la Luz.

You will find everything from first-rate urban beaches like La Victoria in the city of Cadiz or La Barrosa in Chiclana, through to virgin beaches such as the Levante in El Puerto; Los Caños de Meca and Zahora in the Barbate area, Bolonia in Tarifa and El Palmar in Vejer.

Places worth visiting inland include the vineyards of Jerez or the White Villages Route and the Bullfighting Route.