Tarifa offers a historical and beautiful setting with Morocco a short 10km across the Strait of Gibraltar, a gateway between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Beaches, natural beauty, climate, and location combine to make Tarifa worth seeking out.
The wind here is legendary. This is a mecca for all wind-related water sports attracting the best from around the world. While steeped in a long history, it has the feel of a California beach town but more international. The city is relatively small (20,000). We caught a picture-perfect day with the wind blowing in all its glory.
The best view of Tarifa can be had from the battlements of Castillo Guzmán el Bueno (castle of Guzman the good) who earned his moniker by refusing to hand over the castle in 1296 to the besieging forces of the Infante, Don Juan, and the Moors in exchange for the life of his son (good story).
A statue of the hero stands in front of the castle:
Tarifa has a hippy element which may account for the nice selection of vegetarian restaurants. We ate at a combination yoga center and restaurant called Tarifa EcoCenter and met an interesting German woman who came to Tarifa to visit her boyfriend and stayed. The city has that kind of appeal.
Beyond the natural beauty and wonderful climate, Tarifa offers the annual African Film Festival, dedicated to African cinema.
For the naturalist, Tarifa serves as a key point of passage for migrating birds between Africa and Europe. For birdwatchers one of the most impressive sights over the Straits is when flocks of storks, sometimes numbering up to three thousand, cross en mass relying on thermals and updrafts which occur over narrower expanses of water.
It was tempting to take the shuttle to Africa…
but with reservations in Malaga, we headed East along the Costa del Sol to arrive by nightfall.