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Stretching from Gibraltar in the east to the Algarve in the west, and washed by the blue waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the Costa de la Luz boasts mile upon mile of magnificent, unspoilt beaches.
On this coast in the province of Cadiz, stands the town of Conil de la Frontera, a traditional fishing and agricultural town in a privileged location overlooking the ocean, which enjoys 14 kilometres of gently-shelving golden beaches, intimate coves guarded by sandstone cliffs and extensive areas of dense pinewoods.
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Andalucía, one of the 17 "comunidades autónomas" (autonomous communities) in Spain, with a surface area of over 33,500 square miles (87,000 square kilometres) and around seven million inhabitants, is afflicted with a great many clichés.
Among other things, it is the homeland of Carmen and Don Juan, as well as the land of flamenco and bullfighting, of sherry, olives, and lemons, of pious pilgrimages and exuberant celebrations, of Arab palaces and cool patios.
Such images, often evident in the rightly enthusiastic descriptions of 19th century travellers, are quoted nowadays by package-tour managers, to increase this sun-drenched country´s allure. In reality, however, they are only part of the picture.
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Andalucía is fascinating for its contrasts — in terms of culture, landscape, and society.
Travel through Andalucía and you will encounter both Moorish palaces and Christian cathedrals, harsh landscapes and fertile plains, illiterates and great poets, modern cities as well as whitewashed mountain villages with no electricity or running water, motorcycle races as well as bullfights — it is a list that could continue forever.
Anyone travelling to Andalucía will have a great many expectations due to the descriptions he or she has heard and read. Ultimately, perhaps, these expectations may not be fulfilled.
For Andalucía does not reveal itself completely at first glance, offering a fully rounded picture. The visitor needs time to get to know Andalucía.
One needs to keep rediscovering the country time after time, by visiting places and localities that offer a different perspective, a new viewpoint, every time one is there.
Whether you are looking at royal palaces or defensive strongholds, mosques or churches, high-rise blocks in the suburbs or winding little alleyways in historic centres, magnificently laid-out gardens or flower-bedecked patios — Andalucía contains a wealth of contrasting images, which make it one of the most intriguing cultural and natural landscapes in Europe.
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Apart from its cultural heritage, Andalucia is fascinating for its rich variety of different kinds of landscape, which are sometimes downright contradictory. Separated from the high plateau of Castile by the jagged Sierra Morena mountain range, the region lying between the North and the West is intersected by the "great river", the Guadalquivir.
Within its broad river basin lie extensive plains and areas of fertile fields. The Coto de Doñana, which has been designated a nature reserve and has one of the largest bird sanctuaries in Europe, is found within the river’s estuary.
Not far from the coast runs the mountain chain of the “Cordillera Baetica” with a low mountain range in the western part, whose sierras have charmingly dense vegetation.
The high mountains of the Sierra Nevada occupy the eastern area, where you can find snow-capped peaks until early summer. In this area Mount Mulhacén is situated. At 11,421 feet (3,481 metres), it is the highest mountain on the Spanish mainland.
On the fertile coastal strip of the Costa del Sol there is a desert-like landscape in the vicinity of Almería. Here, you will find the Cabo de Gata, a nature reserve with very rare plants, a flamingo sanctuary, and bird nesting areas.
At the eastern edge of the Sierra Nevada lies the only naturally evolved desert in Europe: Tabernas.
And there is yet another contrast marking out the Andalucian landscape: Near Conil de la Frontera at Tarifa, the most southerly point in Europe, the Atlantic and Mediterranean meet.
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Bolonia
