Zahara de los Atunes, Cádiz

A brief introduction (in progress)

The south coast of Spain between Tarifa and Cádiz is (at least was) one of the most beautiful and wild parts of the coast of Spain, and Zahara de los Atunes is on a long beach in the middle of this coast.  Zahara is on the Atlantic Coast (Costa de la Luz), and therefore experiences cool winds and ocean currents which in the past have kept the tourists to the Med.  It is one of the most biologically diverse areas in Europe, and has many endemics and species of plants and animals that are only otherwise found in North Africa.  It is also an excellent area for naturalists in March/April because, being near the southernmost point in Western Europe, its spring is earliest. It is also excellent for migratory birds, and the name of Zahara de los Atunes (it means: flat place of the tuna fish) comes from the excellent situation for trapping tuna in traditional nets (almadrabas) extending from the coast.  The site has been known to produce excellent tuna since Phoenician times, and the Romans built a major town in the area (Baelo Claudia) which exported preserved tuna (garum) all over the Roman Empire.

But there are problems. Zahara and nearby Atlanterra are increasingly becoming a beach destination of choice for the Spanish, who are understandably eager to avoid the Germans and Brits, and their Beerkellers and Fish & Chip shops on the Costa del Sol. The remoteness led to the Zahara area being popular with film stars and other elites who wanted to get away from paparrazi, but was more recently seen as a suitable hangout for rich gangsters, for instance Kenneth Noye, the notorious M25 road-rage killer, who was finally arrested in Atlanterra and extradited to UK.  Smuggling has probably always been an industry, but one of the latest problems has been smuggling of illegal migrants from all over Africa, who are put down or swim to the sparsely populated shores at night (if they are lucky -- see Sun, sea, sand and corpses).  From our point of view, in view of these problems, it is probably best to avoid picking up hitch-hikers.

The tourism and current low interest rates have brought a new problem: massive development on a scale never seen before, and in an area that badly needs very strict and better enforced regulations on coastal development to prevent further damage to the unique flora and fauna.  Yet the area has few industries,and fishing and farming are no longer so lucrative; so tourism is seen as bringing jobs for the unemployed.

Although Zahara has it's share of the world's problems, it is a beautiful place, with an extraordinary biodiversity, and friendly people.

Some other websites and news stories that may be of interest:

Zahara de Los Atunes website (brief, in English)
Zahara de Los Atunes website (in Spanish)
Baelo Claudia (Roman ruins of tuna factory and town)
Hotel Gran Sol (where we stay, in Spanish, MS Explorer or Netscape 6+ only, I am afraid)
Chameleons and junipers threatened by coastal developments (in Spanish)
Sun, sea, sand and corpses (The Guardian)
 


Back to: B243 General Information