CÁDIZ

ESPAÑOL

The most southern province in mainland Spain is one of those that make this country one of the most interesting in terms of tourism.

It is an ode itself to nature.
- Some of the best beaches in the country are here, huge beaches of fine white sand, so large and wide that they house all the tourists who want to go and more. They have a but: it is windy, and together with a cold ocean as the Atlantic is, a day on an idyllic beach could become a frustrating experience, unless you are a water sports person: the south of Cádiz is an all year Mecca for lovers of surf, kite surfing, windsurfing and everything that has to do with the word “surf”. Others will have to take advantage of the summer months, when the weather is more bearable and not only the wind is scarce but the temperature is much more pleasant than on the Mediterranean coast.
- Sierra de Grazalema and Alcornocales Natural Park, two of the best natural environments in the country and different to most of the rest, as the dreaded Atlantic wind, when hitting the mountains forms a microclimate with extreme humidity, being able to find here rain forests.
Its cities are not, on the other hand, its strong point, except Cádiz capital, a pleasant city with a remarkable historical center and a promenade that no matter what James Bond says, it is much better than Havana‘s malecón.
Food. Fish is the rock star in this province, not in vain 90% of the bluefin tuna caught here is owned by Japanese boats. And it is where they better fry the fish, sorry for Málaga and Huelva.
And the people. People in Cadiz have a special grace, here they say they have “too much art”. A Cádiz person no matter what he says he’ll put a smile on your face, they say it in a sudden, exaggerated way, with local slang that sometimes we do not understand those of the provinces next door, and to emphasize they repeat the same word twice. Anyway, but in the end you smile, although if you run into one of the few gaditanos who are not funny and pretend to be, then you are in trouble. Their carnival, the most famous in the country along with those of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, and certainly the most happening.

Not everything in Cádiz is good. Being an eminently fishing province has dragged it to the highest unemployment rate in the country, with the problems that this entails. Luckily for me, little of that I found and much of the good, in this place that, who would have say so, was going to end up being part of my life. Dedicated to my gaditana, the woman in the pictures of this blog, on her birthday.