Situated close to the historic Cape Trafalgar, Barbate is a seafaring and fishing town. It has always been closely linked with the sea and its natural resources, proof of which is the salted fishing industry existing back in Roman times. Nowadays, the people of Barbate still use the almadraba tuny nets that were also used right back in the 13 th century. This system involves setting up a fixed fishing net 3 Km from the coast that catches the tuna on their way through the Straits of Gibraltar looking for warmer waters. The moment of capture is an unrivaled spectacle that relives the glorious fishing days of the past.
Some of the local fish canning factories can be visited.
Yet the town's prehistory in the remote Paleolithic times should not be forgotten, when the pithecanthropus hunted in this area before any civilisation disturbed its untamed nature.
Homo calpensis or Nearndethal man left his traces even before homo sapiens and the earliest human settelements can be traced back to that era.
This town has witnessed Phoenician, Carthaginian and Roman settlements. These peoples used the Almadraba net technique to catch fish and several salt fishing factories were set up along the coast.
This was undisputedly once the site of the city of Baesipo . In 1805, the Battle of Trafalgar took place off the headland of the same name, when the English fleet under Admiral Nelson defeated the Spanish and French fleets.
Barbate became an independent town in 1938. It was renamed Barbate de Franco after the Spanish Civil War (1936-39).
The history of Barbate is filled with many incidents and events, and its many religious monuments reflect the bastion of artistic elements left with the passing of time. Examples of this are the old Roman town and the later Visigoth temple that today is the Chapel of San Ambrosio. Barbate is a lively town with a traditional Andalusian atmosphere where visitors are always welcome.
This is a great area for tourists thanks to its magnificent natural surroundings, its long sandy beaches, the Breña Natural Park and the Barbate salt marshes, its attractive town centre and its lively festivities.
MONUMENTS
- The most noteworthy is the lighthouse at Cape Trafalgar , built in the site of a Roman ruin. The following places of interest are closeby:
The Caños de Meca.
Situated in the southeast of the province of Cadiz in an area that the Greeks considered to be the Columns of Hercules. Situated between the sea, the cliffs and the pine trees and combined with the amazing light of the area, the Caños (a name that comes from the abundance of freshwater springs in the area) offers a wide range of contrasts that appear to have been created to please all our senses.
It has white fine sandy beach with crystal clear waters and is ideal for getting away from it all, as it never gets crowded even at the height of the season. Nudism is common here. The buildings in the area are mainly isolated rural houses built in the typical Andalusian style and guarantee a low-density population in the summer months, although this has increased in recent years. It is an ideal location for deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, canoeing, mountain biking, windsurfing and surfing, without forgetting rambling and horse riding.
The Beña Natural Park that extends from Barbate to the Caños offers a wide variety of ecosystems of high ecological value, such as the cliffs that rise 100 metres above the sea, the pine forests, the Mediterranean undergrowth, sand dunes, salt marshes and the rocky outcrops below the cliffs.
Towns within 10 km of Barbate and belonging to its municipal district:
Zahara de los Atunes
Located on the eastern edge of the Barbate municipal district at one end of the Bull route, Zahara de los Atunes has a population of approximately 1,000. Its name comes from its seafaring past and from the tuna fishing using the famous Almedrabas tuny net (one of mankind's oldest forms of fishing). Tuna fishing off its coast can be traced back to Phoenician and Roman times.
The Almadrabas Castle , of which only the walls still remain, was built in the 16th century by the Dukes of Medina- Sidonia to defend the almadraba nets. After it had been caught, the fish was gutted and cleaned inside the castle. Miguel de Cervantes also worked here.
The village's main acitivity is now tourism thanks to its long beaches, with clean, pure, crystal clear waters and golden sand, together with the surrounding countryside and mountains. There are hotels, apartments with gardens and a camping site on the beach. Its scenic and tourist qualities have made it a popular place with tourists from north and central Europe .
The luxury tourist resort of Atlanterra stretches down both sides of the Cabo de Plata headland. There are chalets and residential complexs right on the beach, together with two four star hotels that belong to the Tarifa municipal district (HotelMelia Sol Atlanterra and Hotel Antonio). Many professionals from the tourist sector consider it to be the most tranquil coastal destination on the Iberian Peninsula , including the groups of islands. It is also an ideal place for sports such as fishing, scuba diving, windsurfing, sailing or horse riding. We must not of course forget its rich cuisine, whose main ingredient is locally caught fish. |
