by Nick Nutter

Created on: July 06, 2008   Last Updated: July 09, 2008

Tarifa, the most southerly town in Europe

Tarifa, the most southerly town on mainland Europe, has occupied a strategic position on the Gibraltar Strait since Phoenician times. They established a trading settlement on the Isla de las Palomas, a small island just off Tarifa now joined to the town by a causeway, and Carthaginians and Greeks followed them. The island still has a strategic value and is closed to the public. Just before the barred gates are two signs, one on the east side of the causeway, 'Mar Mediterraneo' and one on the west 'Oceanis Atlantico', for Tarifa is right in the middle of the Strait.

Tarifa is reputed to be the windiest town in Europe and to experience this phenomenon a walk down the causeway is recommended. You will also have the finest views of the town's most prominent edifice, its castle, and the still very active, fishing port. On the Atlantic side is a wide, wind swept beach that extends to beyond Bolonia. When conditions are right it is a world famous venue for thousands of windsurfers and kite boarders who provide a colourful spectacle. Tarifa and the campsites nearby are packed with water sport enthusiasts waiting for the wind or recovering their breath.

The port is also the point of departure for the fast ferry to Tangiers. You can get a pedestrian day return, take a one or more days tour, or take your own car.

The Romans had a small town in the vicinity of the present castle that they called Julia Traducta but it was the Moors and later the Christians who really developed the town. Julia Traducta vies with Carteia as the landing point of theArab invasion of 711AD but it was not until 960 that the first part of the castle was constructed. Later construction included the walls around the Medina and then the walls around the town itself. From the extremely well preserved battlements it is possible to see the walls that form an integral part of the fabric of the town. A visit to the castle costs 1.80 Euros. Pay at the Papaleria opposite the main gate. There are a number of amusing touches within the castle. Scattered all over the place are stone cannon balls that over the years had been fired into the castle during innumerable sieges. A much more recent addition is the replica Medieval catapult ready to throw them out again. In 1292 the Christians took the town from the Moors. It was here that, in 1294, Guzman el Bueno, charged by the king to hold the castle against the Moors, who wanted it back, sacrificed his kidnapped son rather

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