Andalucia coast line - Europe Gold Coast. Part 1 of 2.

National Spain invites you to visit the War Route of the North. See history in the making among Spanish scenery of unsurpassed beauty.
So read the first British press advertisement for holidays to Spain, published in1938 be the fledgling National Spanish State Tourist Department. Perhaps travellers were more intrepid in the 1930s but, to today’s more pampered tourists, the idea of visiting a country in the throes of civil War will sound distinctly unappealing – and there’d have been nowhere to buy ice cream!

Northern Europeans have been picnicking and swimming at the seaside since early Victorian times, but beach tourists is still a young industry in Spain, a poor and staunchly Catholic country until quite recently. Historically, the country’s beaches were a workplace for fishermen and the locals kept resolutely covered up, while foreign visitors came for the history and culture. The sun, sea and sand concept arrived in 1952 with the first package tour, a Horizon Holiday’s, all-inclusive deal from Gatwick to Palma de Mallorca, priced at 35 Pound. It becomes clear that the sandy coastline was a potential goldmine.

Pedro Zaragoza, the Mayor of Benidorm and the Bikini.

But tourism was hampered by the rigid Franco regime. In 1946, when the first bikini was unveiled to the in Paris, general Franco banned it, believing the two skimpy scraps of garment of Spanish society. Foreigners caught flaunting one in public were fined and/or, frogmarched to the prison. The ban was lifted in 1953, thanks to the efforts of one man; Pedro Zaragoza, the Mayor of Benidorm.

His dream of making his town the package-holiday Mecca of Europe was being undermined by Franco’s old-fashioned views, so he passed a by-law allowing bikinis. When the Church threatened to excommunicate him – social suicide in those days- Zaragoza climbed on his Vespa and puttered off to Madrid where he managed to convince the General that the bikini ban was bad for the economy.

Bikini was the economic boom for Spain.

Zaragoza’s success was the catalyst for a chain of events that undermined the power of the Church in Spain, brought dictatorship to an end and heralded the massive economic boom – a phenomenon called The Spanish Miracle, when Spain Enjoyed the second highest growth rate in the world, after Japan. The recovery from poverty was heavily based on mass tourism. A wave of cultural hedonism – la movida – swept the country. Rules that were bent for tourists were soon broken by everyone and the new visitor’s ideas of democracy soon spread.

Cinematic censorship of bikini was dropped in 1964 when, almost immediately, film directors such as Jesus Franco (no relation) began flaunting the garment as a revolutionary symbol of liberation. Within four years of the Generalissimos’ death in 1975, topless sunbathing was permitted. The first nudist resort, Costa Natura near Estepona, opened in 1979.

Since those early days, the beach has become a key element in the sophisticated tourism mix, with fresh water showers, luxurious sun beds, lifeguards, bars and restaurants, cantering not only for nudists and textiles (people who wear clothes) but even, unofficially, for gays. Andalucia has more than 60 blue flag beaches, a guarantee of cleanliness, service, environmental quality and safety, awarded by the EU only after stringent inspections.

The long coastline of Andalucia.

Today it is hard to find a stretch of Andalucía’s 800 kilometres of coastline that has not been developed to some degree. The seashore extends from the Costa Almeria, in the east, via Granada’s Costa Tropical and the Costa del Sol in Malaga province, to the Costa de la Luz of Cadiz and Huela.

As it progresses, it changes character from the rocky headlands and sheltered bays of the eastern Mediterranean to the wild, dune-lined beaches of the Atlantic. All the main resorts have their own marinas, beachfront hotels, restaurants, chiringuitos and trendy bars while, out at sea, pleasure cruisers, pedals, jet skis and power boats far outnumber the traditional fishing smacks of old. The change of long empty beaches to large constructions of golf courses surrounded with luxury villas and apartments complex, the mountain sides with townhouses and villas with panoramic view over the Mediterranean .     

West Andalucia coastline to the Atlantic.

Western Andalucia, a late developer in tourism, still offers resorts with low-key charm while, for drama, there is nothing to rival the Atlantic coast beaches which stretch for kilometres and are frequently buffeted by strong winds and pounded by heavy seas. In summer, around the fishing grounds off Conil, Barbatee and Zahara de los Atunes, the tuna swim so close to the surface you can touch them from a boat. The Atlantic is also rich in frigate mackerel, big toothed pompano, blue fish, sea bass, spotted bass, gilthead, grouper and some 150 types of shark – a fishermen’s paradise.

The long find and sandy Cadiz province’s coastline.

Sanlúcar at the estuary of the River Guadalquivir in the northwest of Cadiz province was a leading port in the 16th century; Columbus set sail from here on his third voyage to the Americas. Its shell-encrusted river beach is usually deserted, except on race days, in late August when jockeys, clad in racing silks, pound their thoroughbreds across the firm sand in the wake of Andalucia for the waterfront of the old Bajo de Guia fishing district. From here, you can also catch a boat cruise up river to Coto Doñana National Park, a vital wetland sanctuary for a huge variety of protected birds and wildlife.

Neighbouring Chipona is famed for its 12 kilometre of golden beaches – the long playa de Regla, south of the town, is particular, which also boasts Spain’s tallest lighthouse. Further south is the port city of Cadiz which, despite British protestations to the contrary, is regarded as the home of take-away fried fish. Other popular resorts include Nova Sancti Petri with its Sevi Ballasteros-designed, 36-hole golf course; the pretty white town of Conil whose winding streets are reminiscent of Neja’s and Cabo de Trafalgar, where Lord Nelson won his famous victory and met his death in 1805.

Tarifa – one of the best kite and windsurfing places in the world.

Tarifa, on Spain’s southern nose tip, south in Costa de la Luz and north of Gibraltar, ranks as one of the top kite and wind surfing destinations in the world. Aficionados flock here in their thousands to take advantage of what has become Tarifa most marketable commodity – its wind, said to blow 300 days a year. Their playground is a bay fringed by 35 kilometres of long, wide beaches with shallows extending far offshore and sand dunes that rise almost vertically – ideal if you are a surfer, if not, a westerly poniente can be murder for contact lens wearers or anyone who doesn’t appreciate the itchy and exfoliating effect of sand grains blowing into their eyes, hair, and under their clothing.

Sun worshippers prefer the more sheltered Playa Chica, on the Mediterranean side of Tarifa. The waters off coast are also perfect for aquatic mammal watching and several companies in town offer boat trips to see three species of Dolphin, fin whales, sperm whales and, in high summer, killer whales which come to feed on the red tuna.