Zahara is a small tourist town built around an old tuna fishing village. There is no harbor, instead the boats are draged up onto the beach. Now most of the boats have moved down the road to Barbatas.
The 8km long playa de Zahara de los Atunes, one of the biggest tourist attractions on the coast of Cadiz, is part of the Andalusian Costa de la Luz and was awarded a white flag by the European Union.
Year upon year more houses and hotels are built near this wide beach with its crystal clear water and golden sand, due to its proximity to the countryside and mountains.
Numerous bars and restaurants, serving typical regional dishes, line the beach. Each Summer thousands of people from every corner of Spain and Europe come here to sample the fish, to enjoy the sun sets and relax in the peace and quiet of a friendly atmosphere – all of which constitutes an unforgettable experience.
Zahara has a long tradition as a fishing village. Inside the fortified wall of "El Palacio" was an entire roman whale and tuna fishing industry. There was a prison here in Shakespeare's time where Spain's famous writer, Cervantes of Don Quixote fame, was said to be imprisoned. Certainly he was a spy, and it was rumoured that he and Christopher Marlow met here on the beach. Cervantes' story "La Fregone Ilustre" (The Illustrious Mop") has inspired the name of bars and streets in the village. Hemingway noted the town's infamy, practicing piracy on the ships halted by the "Levante" (the fierce wind from the east) in the Straits of Gibraltar.
There is also "cachondeo", the Spanish word for a joke, named after the river Cachon which flows through the village. The villagers used to stand in the river, which nowadays flows in to the sea only in winter, casting nets and joking.
These days Zahara boasts excellent hotels, lovely bars and cafes traditionally crafted in wood, and has become a small Spanish tourist resort. At the far end of the beach to the south there is a development of new villas in the magnificent countryside of the Sierra de la Plata, an idyllic spot. Walk up to the lighthouse at the furthest point of the road and admire the views extending from Tarifa to Cape Trafalgar and magnificent views of the North African Rif mountains
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