Cádiz

Introduction

Playa Caleta - Cadiz

© JOSE_MARIA

Cádiz is a city and port on the southwest coast of Spain, it is the capital of the Cádiz Province one of the provinces of Andalusia. The old city lies on a peninsula that streches out into the Atlantic.

Sights and Activities

Cadiz's city council

© JOSE_MARIA

Cadiz is said to be the oldest city in western Europe, as it was founded by Phoenician sailors about 3,000 years ago, as a commercial stronghold. Archeological remains can be found all around the old town. The Archeological Museum (Plaza de Mina) exhibits are interesting, specially two Phoenician stone sarcophagi. The remains of the Roman theatre, just behind the Old Cathedral, are also worth a visit.

The massive stone walls and forts surrounding the old town were built after the British naval attack and sacking in 1596 (the "singeing of the Spanish King's beard", in the words of the British commander, Sir Francis Drake), and the forts of San Sebastian and Santa Catalina (and occasionally Baluarte de la Concepcion) are open to the public.

Everyone should visit the Cathedral in the old town and climb to the top of the North Tower for a nice view of the entire city.

The church Oratorio de San Felipe Neri, where the first Spanish Constitution was signed, has plenty of marble and bronze plates to honour the representatives from mainland Spain and colonial territories, ranging from Philippines Islands to Central and South America.

The Torre Tavira, near the Central Market (Mercado de Abastos) holds a "camera obscura". Located in one of the towers originally used by merchants to watch out for their ships returning home from the Americas, it provides a birds-eye view of the old part of town.

The Central Market itself is well worth a visit in the morning, especially the fish section.

A modern monument of Cadiz are the huge pylons of the powerline crossing the bay of Cadiz. These 150 metre high pylons are lattice towers with cylindrical cross section.

Events and Festivals

Carnival de Cádiz

The Carnival de Cádiz is most likely the most famous carnival celibration in the whole of Spain. It is simultaniously with all the other carnival celibrations in the world, and thus takes place in February or March. If you want to stay in Cádiz for this party, you need to book ahead.

Weather

Cádiz has a hot-summer mediterranean climate with very mild to warm winters and warm to hot summers. The city has significant maritime influences due to its position on a narrow peninsula. Amongst any European city, Cádiz has the warmest winters. The annual sunshine hours of Cádiz are above 3,000 hours, being one of the most sunny cities in Europe. Although summer nights are tropical in nature, daytime temperatures are comparatively subdued compared to nearby inland areas such as Jerez and the very hot far inland areas in Andalucia. Snowfall is unknown at least since the 19th century, being the least snowy place of Europe.

Getting There

Cadiz - city wall

© Mariposas

By Plane

Nearby Jerez de la Frontera has a small airport (XRY), that is serviced by Iberia from Madrid and Vueling from Barcelona, and some of the other lowcost airlines, with destinations like Helsinki, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Munich, Palma de Mallorca, Brussels, London, Manchester and several other domestic destinations and seasonal flights (Amsterdam for example). There are busses running from the busstation in Jerez de la Frontera and to the airport, on somewhat regular times.

By Train

Cádiz is connected to other nearby places like Jerez de la Frontera and Seville by regional trains. You can check the website of Renfe, the Spanish Railway Company, for timetables to cities within Spain.

By Car

Cádiz lies on the A4 and the AP-4 (toll road) motorways, that runs from the Seville, passes Jerez de la Frontera, and ends near Cádiz. From the end of the A-4, you can continue to the city on the A-443, which also runs over the bridge that connects San Fernando with Cádiz.

By Bus

From several places in Andalusia there are buses going to Cádiz. Check the website: buses in Cadiz. Alsa also connects to Cádiz from several Spanish cities.

By Boat

From Cádiz there are ferries to Tenerife with Acciona Trasmediterránea.

Getting Around

By Public Transport

If you are planning trips outside of the town, or to some other towns in the neighbourhood (Santa Maria or Jerez), take a good look at the website of the consorcio de bahia de Cadiz, that runs most of the public transport in the region. The trainstation lies just outside of the old town, in the newer parts of Cádiz, there are another 4 stations making getting around pretty easy.

From the busstation near the city walls there are busses leaving for many nearby places, but also for cities that are further away like Granada and Almeria. Check the website: buses in Cadiz.

By Foot

The historical town is little over a kilometre long, and a kilometre wide, so getting around by foot is the best option to see the town.

Eat

If you're in the Cadiz area, chocolate con churros is a must. It consists of doughnut strips (sprinkled with sugar) and really thick hot chocolate to dip them in.

In Cadiz you will find some of the best and freshest fish and shellfish in the world. They are best eaten as simply cooked as possible: plain boiled shellfish (in varying sizes from tiny prawns up to lobsters), grilled or baked whole fish such as lubina (bass) or dorada (bream), or deep fried with a light flour coating (especially puntillitas (baby squid) and boquerones (anchovies)).

To eat not too expensive fish and shellfish, you can look at Calle Zorrilla (several tapas bars and street vendors) or Calle de la Palma (several restaurants with open air terraces).

For a splurge, the best place in town is Restaurante El Faro (Calle San Félix. But even here food can be not very expensive, if you stand at the bar and eat only tapas.

Drink

Fino, a (16% alcohol) bone dry sherry (or Jerez), or manzanilla, a similar wine from Sanlucar de Barrameda, is the perfect aperitif with olives or a prawn or two. Drinking more than a couple of glasses may spoil your focus on the rest of the meal. The best local white wine (and one of the most popular in Spain) is Barbadillo, made from the same grape but considerably lighter (11%). You should visit Taberna de la Manzanilla, one of the oldest bars and wine merchants in town, selling nothing but sherry wines. No tapas but just 2 complimentary olives per glass of wine. Forget about local red wine. Quality is far below other Spanish areas producing red wines, such as Rioja or Ribera de Duero.

Sleep

Learn

• University of Cádiz

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet is widely available within Spain. Most airports have wifi-zones and in most towns there are internet cafés or shops where you can use internet for a fixed price. Wi-Fi points in bars and cafeterias are available after ordering, and most hotels offer Wi-Fi connection in common areas for their guests.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The international access code for Spain is +34. The emergency number for police, ambulance and the fire brigade is 112.

In cities you can find plenty of public phones, and 'locutorios'. The latter are small shops where you can use the phone and use internet. Most of them also sell prepaid cards for mobile telephones. These shops are used a lot by foreigners to call to their mother country.

The main mobile network operators in Spain are Yoigo, Vodafone, Movistar and Orange, as in most of Europe voice and data coverage is generally good in urban areas however it can be patchy in rural locations. Cheap mobile phones (less than €50) with some pre-paid minutes are sold at FNAC or any phone operator's shop (Vodafone, Movistar, Orange). Topping-up is then done by buying scratch cards from the small stores, supermarkets, vending points (often found in tobacco shops) or kiosks.

Post

If you want to post a card, you can head to the post office (Correos). The Spanish post is not yet as efficient as colleagues in other countries so receiving a card can take a bit longer than the number of days that it should take. On the website of Correos, you can find the locations of nearby post offices.
Post offices are generally open from 8:30am to 2:00pm, although times will vary according to the size of the city/town and the main post offices might be open until the early evening. Most will also open again on Saturday mornings, but in the smaller towns will close as early as 12 noon. When posting a letter, look for a yellow box and, if possible, post at the post office itself where there will also be divisions for local, national and international mail. Be prepared for long queues at the post office. This is why tobacco shops sell stamps and many will also have the facility to weigh packages. Standard letters/postcards of up to 20 grams sent within Spain are €0.34. However, non-standard letters/postcards of up to 20g are €0.39. Letters/postcards of 20 to 50 grams are €0.45. In the case of international shipping, the price is €0.64 to most countries within Europe for standard envelopes (letters/postcards) up to 20g, for a few European countries and outside Europe it is €0.78. If you want to send a package you are probably better off with a private courier company like TNT, DHL or UPS, as they offer quick and reliable services against competitive prices.

External Links

• Official Website
• Official Tourism Board