Cádiz - the oldest city in Europe?

Cádiz - the city

The city of Cádiz lays claim to being the oldest city in Europe - the Phoenicians allegedly founded the place in 1104BC.

Most of modern day Cádiz is not that old, however, but the architecture is nevertheless splendid and mostly dates from the 18th century. Only the ruin of the Roman theatre provides evidence that the city is much older than it looks.

Cádiz - Plaza de la San Juan de Dios

Manuel de Falla portrait
in the Cathedral crypt

There are many baroque buildings including the Hospital de Mujeres whose main attraction is a painting by El Greco - the 'Extasis de San Francisco'. Other places of note are the Museo de Cádiz and the Gran Teatro Falla, named in honour of composer Manuel de Falla, who is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral. There are lovely places to walk in the city like the palm-fringed Plaza San Juan de Dios and the bustling Plaz de las Flores.

The jewel of the city, though, is the cathedral - the Catedral Nueva looks particularly splendid from the waterfront. Its dome glitters like gold in the sunshine but in reality is made of yellow glazed tiles.

Cádiz Cathedral © Robert Bovington

Cádiz - the province 

Cádiz is also the capital of the province of the same name - one of the eight provinces of Andalucía. Other important cities are Jerez, famous for its sherry and Algeciras. Tarifa is an interesting place and is the most southerly town in Europe. It is also a tad windy - handy for those that go there for the windsurfing!

Tarifa - old town gate © Robert Bovington

But most of all the province of Cádiz has tremendous scenery and dramatic landscapes. It is a nature lover's delight with many protected areas including the Sierra de Grazalema and the Parque Natural de Doñana.

Sierra de Grazalema © Robert Bovington

Robert Bovington



more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Natural Parks in Spain

by Robert Bovington

My article on National Parks highlighted the fact that Spain has a great variety of landscapes and that it is good at protecting its natural spaces - so much so, that it was one of the first countries to establish national parks.

At present, Spain has 15 national parks but there are many hundreds of natural areas that have been afforded protection. National parks are afforded the highest level of protection followed by natural parks. There are also natural monuments, special protection areas, nature reserves, protected landscapes, biotopes, nature enclaves, wildlife reserves, marine reserves, rural parks, natural landscapes of national interest and sites of scientific interest. 

There are also biosphere reserves. UNESCO award biosphere reserve status to those areas with great biodiversity and which demonstrate a balanced relationship between the ecosystem and the people living and working there. Not all national parks have biosphere status yet some natural parks do. At the time of writing, there are thirty-three biosphere reserves in Spain, yet only five National parks have that status - Picos, Ordesa, Sierra Nevada, Doñana and the Timanfaya National Park in Lanzarote.

Natural parks are pretty special but there are too many to list here. Every autonomous community has a number of protected areas with Catalonia, Andalucía and the Canaries being the most prolific with several hundreds between them. 

In Andalucía there are around 150 protected areas including 23 natural parks. Three of my favourites are the Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park, the Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park and the Sierra de las Nieves. All three are biosphere reserves.

The Cabo de Gata-Níjar Natural Park is located a few miles east of Almería. It is an area of unspoilt beaches with secluded coves and is Andalucía's largest protected coastal area.
 

Playa Monsul (Cabo de Gata) © Robert Bovington

 

The Sierra de Grazalema Natural Park is a vast area of rugged limestone mountains. It is located in Cádiz province, a few miles west of Ronda. Grazalema is the rainiest place in Spain that, undoubtedly, accounts for the verdant vegetation there. The griffon vulture is one of the species of wildlife that lives in the park. 
 

Grazalema © Robert Bovington

The Sierra de las Nieves is located between Marbella and Ronda. It is a spectacular landscape of limestone mountains where mountain goat, roe deer, wildcat and fox roam and where eagle, vulture and falcon soar. Flora includes pine, chestnut, holm oak, cork oak and the native Spanish fir (pinsapo).
 

Sierra de las Nieves © Robert Bovington

more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/

Cádiz

© Robert Bovington
Cádiz - the city

The city of Cádiz lays claim to being the oldest city in Europe - the Phoenicians allegedly founded the place in 1104BC.

Most of modern day Cádiz is not that old, however, but the architecture is nevertheless splendid and mostly dates from the 18th century. Only the ruin of the Roman theatre provides evidence that the city is much older than it looks.

Falla - portrait in Cádiz Cathedral

There are many baroque buildings including the Hospital de Mujeres whose main attraction is a painting by El Greco - the 'Extasis de San Francisco'. Other places of note are the Museo de Cádiz and the Gran Teatro Falla, named in honour of composer Manuel de Falla, who is buried in the crypt of the Cathedral. There are lovely places to walk in the city like the palm-fringed Plaza San Juan de Dios and the bustling Plaz de las Flores.

The jewel of the city, though, is the cathedral - the Catedral Nueva looks particularly splendid from the waterfront. Its dome glitters like gold in the sunshine but in reality is made of yellow glazed tiles.

 

Cádiz Cathedral - view from seafront

Cádiz - the province 

Cádiz is also the capital of the province of the same name - one of the eight provinces of Andalucía. Other important cities are Jerez, famous for its sherry and Algeciras. Tarifa is an interesting place and is the most southerly town in Europe. It is also a tad windy - handy for those that go there for the windsurfing!

Tarifa

 

But most of all the province of Cádiz has tremendous scenery and dramatic landscapes. It is a nature lover's delight with many protected areas including the Sierra de Grazalema and the Parque Natural de Doñana.

Sierra de Grazalema

www.tablondeanuncios.com

more blogs by Robert Bovington...

"Photographs of Spain"	http://bovingtonphotosofspain.blogspot.com/
"postcards from Spain"	http://bovington-posts.blogspot.com/
"you couldn't make it up!"	http://bovingtonycmitup.blogspot.com/
"a grumpy old man in Spain"	http://grumpybobbov.blogspot.com/
"bits and bobs"	http://bovingtonbitsandblogs.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Expressions"	http://spanishsayingsbovington.blogspot.com/
"Spanish Art"	http://bovingtonspanishart.blogspot.com/
"Books About Spain"	http://bovingtonbooks.blogspot.com/