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Costa
de la Luz Spain
People go to Andalucia for
one of two reasons: either they like the costa - the calamari and
sangria, the sea-view apartment blocks, the yachts - or they like the
backwaters; the rural south, where hill-top pueblos blancos shimmer
above the cork forests.
For those in the know, however, theres another Andalucia: a place
where you can spend your days listening to jazz in 15th-century
monasteries and take mud baths beneath the cliffs - Costa de la Luz;
watch pink flamingos flying to Africa and swim with dolphins in the
Med. While the former Andalucia centres around the Mediterranean
metropolis of Marbella, this other, more elusive destination, is found
near Tarifa, on the Atlantic Costa de la Luz.
Ride by moonlight on Costa de la Luz
The old roman roads behind Tarifa wind up into the hills, through
forests and past hilltop fortresses. Alternatively, you can gallop
along the beach towards the Zahara sand dunes. To descend the dunes,
the horses have learnt how to toboggan, sitting back on their rumps
and slithering down the hill. Best of all are the full-moon beach
rides.
Drive the Facinas road
This is one of the most romantic roads in Europe. Once a Roman
highway, it winds through the Parque Natural de los Alcornocales, a
vast protected cork forest. The track starts by the Roman ruins at
Bolonia before clambering up into the hills. In the cooler months, the
forest floor is dense with ferns and you can camp beside the white
boulders that litter the valley floor. The road is in poor condition -
at some points the Tarmac is reduced to an island in a sea of rubble -
but thats all part of its charm. There is just one habitable building
on the road: a dusty bar where you can stop for a beer. Past Los
Barrios, a new motorway cuts the Facinas in two. Rejoin the route and
you encounter the most stunning spectacle of all: a sky black with
raptors, waiting for mice and rats to scuttle about.
Party on Bolonia beach
Bolonia beach makes you wonder why anyone bothers with the Costa del
Sol. A lip of golden sand on the Atlantic, the ocean here is clean,
clear and aquamarine. Behind the dunes, the hills are sparsely
inhabited. A few cows mooch around, chewing on the cacti that serve as
a fence. If you walk the full length of the beach, you reach a clutch
of rock pools where you can chip soap-sized bars from the cliffs, bash
them into paste and coat yourself in the mud. Lie in the sun until the
minerals have dried and then wash it all off in the sea: your skin
will feel peachy-soft. Bolonia is home to a handful of European
hippies, who live in yurts by a spring above the beach. In the summer,
their numbers are swelled by opportunistic holiday-makers, eager to
take advantage of some free accommodation. The result is riotous beach
parties, including all-night dance parties in the sand.
Trendy Tarifa
As Europes windsurfing capital, Tarifa is full of hip people wearing
hip clothes and wanting hip venues. So think sushi shacks,
bamboo-walled juice bars and nightclubs in ruined fortresses. Many a
good night can be spent in this town. You can eat supper in Mandragora,
a four-table restaurant beneath the fortress walls with a
Chinese/French Moroccan menu. Alternatively, glasses of fresh mint tea
on a balcony overlooking the dining room are one attraction of the
restaurant Souk. Tarifas nightclubs are far funkier than the
beer-and-babes bars down the coast. Café Sol is a cavern-like disco
that plays drum n bass and hip-hop. Above is a club called La Ruina
which has an open roof and a bar made of wooden wagon wheels. For
breakfast, head to Café Azul (Batalla del Salado), a trendy eatery
with admirable muffins, where you can read the papers in one of three
bamboo-roofed gardens.
Checking out the birds
The Straits of Gibraltar are one of the worlds great migratory routes,
and for much of the year the skies above are noisy with birds.
September, for example, is when the black kites fly over, while August
is the time to watch white storks. Griffon vultures head south in
October, hot on the heels of goshawks and marsh harriers. The best
twitching spots are on the mountainous ridges between Sierra del
Cabrito and Puerto El Bujeo, opposite the shores of Africa. You can
stand at the lookout on the road to Tarifa, or clamber up beneath the
windmills behind. Alternatively, from the Algeciras lighthouse at
Punta del Carnero, drive along the tiny road towards Tarifa to the
sandy wilderness beyond. If you lie back on the sand, you could catch
a truly spectacular sight: a sky pink with flamingos. True birders
should go the whole hog and book in for a week with the regions
foremost naturalist and twitcher, Martin Jacoby, who leads expeditions
to the Dońana national park.
Jimena International Music Festival
This July, for the third year running, the hills of Andalucia will
ring to the sounds of some of the worlds most respected musicians.
Jimena, a traditional pueblo blanco straddling a ludicrously steep
hill, makes a staggering location for the festival. Visitors can
listen to classical music in a 15th-century cloistered convent, or tap
along to jazz in the Llano de la Victoria, a cobbled square peppered
with orange trees. Flamenco, including performances by Spains foremost
dancer, Sara Baras, takes place in the main square. For opera fans,
Mozarts Marriage of Figaro will be performed in the open. With
lemonade on the lawn and seats beneath the olive trees, the opera will
be a sort of Andalucian Glyndebourne.
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