Exploring the Costa de la Luz from Villa Malvarosa
Cadiz
Cadiz city lies on a small peninsula, almost in the center part of the province’s coastline, the Costa de la Luz, the Coast of Light. Its probably most famous for the many English sea battles against the Spanish with Trafalgar not far away.
The city, founded by the early Phoenicians more than 1000 years ago shows many signs of prehistoric settlement and is thought to be Europe’s oldest city. Due to the positioning at the entrance of the Mediterranean it is an important port for seafarers and over the centuries was a main departure point for fleets leaving for the Americas, including Christopher Columbus.
Since 1998 there has been a remarkable rise from 3 million visitors to 5 million. With 15% of the visitors to Andalucia it puts Cadiz in 2nd place behind the province of Malaga and offers 55,000 choices of accommodation ranging from hotels, campsites and rural accommodation. This popular demand is due to the increased attraction of sports such as golf and equestrian, kite-surfing and rock climbing. To appreciate the culture there are opportunities for visits to museums and historical ruins, castles, vineyards and winemakers, craft factories, large ranches and small palaces along with monasteries. Of course one of the most popular past time is relaxing on the golden beaches or in the countryside with the countryside boasting wide open spaces with 5 areas being protected as National Parks.
Jerez
North of Malvarosa & where most guests land, is the town of Jerez, close to Cadiz, it is the other principal town of the province. Jerez de la Frontera, well known to the British, and famous throughout the world for its sweet wines named after the town, which the British pronounced ‘sherry’. Called ‘de la Frontera’ because once it stood on the frontier between the Moorish and the Christian territories from those early days the town has developed its traditions and reputation for its pedigree horses and brilliant singers and flamenco dancers.
Beeches
The typical beaches running along 138 km on the Costa de la Luz are wide, and in many places with African style sand dunes with dense copses of pine trees behind, and a sand colour varying from golden to white. The sand is finer than that of the neighboring Costa del Sol, the air temperatures are slightly milder than the rest of Spain and the strong Atlantic winds and waves attract wind surfers and board surfers.
Development
Development on the Costa de la Luz has seen many new residential projects in recent years with more golf courses planned to match demand. Among the nearest golf courses to Jerez are the Jack Nicklaus course at Montenmendio, and the course at Benelup, as well as the resort courses at Novo Sancti Petri and Chiclana Arcos de La Frontera which now claim to be the prettiest towns in Spain. Further to the East Ubrique probably represents to visitors all that is southern Spanish being a centre for breeding of fighting bulls and is steeped in traditions going back to Roman times.