7 November 2022 - Tarifa

Miles driven today = 43

Total Miles to date = 2,973

Raphael, who runs the aire at Los Canos de Meca makes a point of greeting all his guests at the gate and likewise of waving us off as we departed this morning.  He's got a great little place there.  We originally only booked in for one night and ended up staying three.  He gave us one of his stickers as a leaving present and implored us to return.  We may just do so one day.

We stopped for a supermarket sweep at Barbate, which was another interesting looking resort with a cracking looking beach. Then it was back to Vejer de la Frontera to complete the loop and pick up the N340 down to Tarifa.

We had considered by-passing this place.  All of the local campsites are a good way out of town and would have involved a fairly lengthy cycle ride along the busy main road.  The aire in town gets some pretty bad press with complaints of dog mess and noise but we've seen no evidence of the former and being a Monday I would hope that the local ravers will all be recovering from their weekend exertions.  It's basically a dirt car park but it's well lit and only €8 for 24 hours and we're not fussy.

At a fraction over 36 degrees north, Tarifa is the most Southerly town in the whole of mainland Europe.  We are further south here than both the toecap of Italy and the longest finger of the Peloponnese.

There is a small fortified promontory accessible by a causeway.  To the right is the Atlantic Ocean and to the left is the Med.

You can't actually get past the gates to the Fort so this was effectively the most Southerly accessible point on the continent.  The chap you can see on the other side of the bars was a fisherman.  2 minutes later the police turned up to unlock the gates to let him out.

Tarifa is also the closest point to Africa.  They run day trips across to Tangiers.  You're supposed to be looking at the ferry.  Stop zooming in on the topless ladies!

Saint Catalina's Castle stands at the landward end of the causeway and is surrounded by World War II bunkers.

A little further along the front is the Castle of King Guzman.

Everywhere in Tarifa you see Moorish influence in the architecture.  This building currently houses a library.

This mirador gave the best views across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morrocco.

You could clearly see the coastline just a few kilometres away.

St Matthew's is the main Church in Tarifa and is at the centre of the labyrinth of tiny streets which form its old town.

Another church bedecked with flowering plants.

We made our way back to the beach on the Atlantic side of town and sat at a bar watching the breakers crashing onto the sand.  At one point Lisa actually said "f**k it, shall we just put the van on a boat & go to Morocco".  It's certainly one way of getting round the 90 out of every 180 days restriction on our travelling.  Maybe next time.  In fact, definitely next time!

We're both in agreement that we really like Tarifa and we're glad we stopped off and weren't swayed by the negative comments about the aire.  It's a bit of a mecca for kite surfers and I'm sure in the peak season it is absolutely heaving but at this time of year it's just lovely.

8 November 2022 - Gibraltar