Echoes of colonial rule

Cast back one hundred years and Spain had just secured (through the Treaty of Fez in the spring of 1912) international recognition for her North African protectorate which extended from Larache on the Atlantic coast to well east of Melilla on the Mediterranean coast. Moroccan independence in 1956 spelled the end of the protectorate, but Spain has clung to two cities on the coast of Morocco, eight offshore islands in the Alboran Sea and one heavily fortified rock connected to the Moroccan mainland by a sandy isthmus.

Many of these fragments of Spanish territory are no-go areas for civilians, but the two cities, Melilla and Ceuta, both make interesting excursions for travelers exploring the western Mediterranean. And each is a potential gateway to Africa – albeit a very unusual introduction to the continent.

Fortress Europe

Both Melilla and Ceuta share common land borders with Morocco, and in each case that frontier is marked by a ferocious border fence, designed to deter migrants from elsewhere in Africa who might otherwise use Ceuta and Melilla as easy routes into the European Union. These are, in a very real sense, gated communities.

That said, there is a high level of contact between the two Spanish cities and nearby communities in Morocco — in Ceuta particularly with Tetouan province and in Melilla especially with Nador province. Yet, for many Africans, the two Spanish cities on the coast of Morocco are a very tangible manifestation of Fortress Europe.

Many faces, many races

Both cities are similarly large, in each case with a population of about 70,000 including an interesting mix of Spanish, Moroccan, Berber, and Jewish settlers. In both cities, you’ll hear a rich mix of languages, recalling the cosmopolitan mosaic of races, cultures and religions that long characterized many Mediterranean ports. In Ceuta, there is even a small Hindi-speaking population.

Travel options

Ceuta has a more industrial feel, as befits a port that handles a wide range of goods and has huge ferries leaving every hour for Spain proper. Melilla is a shade more laid-back, relying heavily on the local fishing industry. Both towns make for a curious first taste of Africa.

Given the choice, make for Melilla rather than Ceuta. During the current winter season, Acciona Trasmediterranea operate daily ferries from both Málaga and Almería to Melilla. The passage time is six to nine hours. Melilla is well placed for onward journeys through Morocco. After a stay in Melilla, it is an easy walk over the border to pick up the Moroccan rail network at Beni Nsar.

Visa questions

Ceuta and Melilla are both part of the Eurozone and both are on the same time zone as mainland Spain (so, depending on the time of year, either one or two hours in advance of Morocco).

Both cities are part of  the Schengen area. Thus, a Schengen visa is valid for entry to both these fragments of Spanish territory in North Africa. However, if you are planning onward travel beyond Ceuta and Melilla into Morocco (and beyond), bear in mind that you will be leaving the Schengen area. A single-entry Schengen visa will thus be canceled as you leave Spanish territory and you will not be able to reenter the Schengen area without securing a new visa. Similarly, make sure that your passport is valid for visa-free travel to Morocco before planning journeys beyond Ceuta or Melilla. And, if it isn’t, then don’t forget that Moroccan visa.

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For those looking to experience the lesser-known side of the country, here is why Spain’s southernmost port should be added to your itinerary.

It’s The Epicenter Of Kite Surfing

While once just a tiny fishing village, water sport enthusiasts began flocking to Tarifa once they realized how strong and steady the winds were. Today, it is one of the most popular destinations for windsurfing and kitesurfing in Europe.

When visiting Tarifa, the first thing you’ll notice are the myriad kite surfing schools littering the town, as well as the hundreds of colorful kites zipping over the water.

Relax at night with a table of tapas.

Easy Access To Morocco

For those who wish to step onto the African continent, you can take a speedy ferry from Tarifa in about 45 minutes. Several ferries leave daily, and are €31 (about $40) each way. You’ll land in Tangier, where you can hire a local guide at the ferry terminal or just wander the streets on your own.

Fresh Seafood

You know you’re getting fresh seafood because you’re right on the coast. Additionally, the small local restaurants of this laid-back Andalusian town use traditional methods to create high quality tapas. Some worthwhile restaurants serving fresh Spanish seafood and tapas include Restaurant Morilla and Bodega La Casa Amarilla on Calle Sancho IV el Bravo and Bar Los Melli on Guzman el Bueno.

Alternatively, Tarifa is also home to many non-Spanish restaurants, like Ali Baba for Middle Eastern, Rosso Pomodoro for Italian and Surla for Sushi, crepes and burgers—for when you’re in the mood for something else.

Hit the beach—and take a kit-surfing class!

Both Atlantic And Mediterranean Beaches

When visiting Tarifa, you’ll be able to swim in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean in one day. There’s Beach Playa Chica which sits on the Mediterranean, while less than a 10 minute walk away is Beach Playa Los Lances on the Atlantic.

In the Old Town, you can also walk out on the dock to have the windy Atlantic on the north side, and the calmer Mediterranean on the south side.

Active Pursuits

Along with being the windsurfing and kitesurfing capital of Europe, it also features opportunities to horseback ride, surfski, surf, scuba dive, stand up paddle board, cycle and hike.

While water sports and horseback riding can be enjoyed at the many beaches, cycling and hiking can be done at one of the local parks or nature reserves. For example, Los Alcornocales Nature Park showcases untouched mountain, beach and forest landscapes, an array of bird and land-animal species and lookout points providing views of Andalusia beyond Tarifa.

Take a ride on a zipline.

Rich History

Tarifa has a rich history that is still visible today. At the end of Tarifa’s main road, Batalla del Salado, you’ll see a giant arch letting you know you’re passing into the old town. Narrow cobblestoned streets, Moorish architecture and whitewashed buildings create an Old-World atmosphere, while sights like Guzman Castle, medieval ruins and 10th-century Arabic city walls are a reminder of the city’s Muslim rule from 710 to 1292.

The Castle of Guzman El Bueno was built in 960 AD and is the site where General Guzman el Bueno’s son was held hostage by the Moors in 1294, wanting him to surrender the castle. The general refused, even tossing his own dagger down to his enemies to show his bravery. Unfortunately, the Moors used the dagger to kill the boy.

Getting There

If you’re flying, you’ll arrive in Pablo Picasso Airport (AGP) in Malaga. From there, you can either rent a car and drive to Tarifa, or opt to take a bus from the city center. To go straight to Tarifa, the bus comes three times per day, at 7:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Your other option is to take a faster bus to Algeciras, which is only 12 miles from Tarifa. There are about 15 buses per day leaving from Malaga to Algeciras. In Algeciras, you’ll walk about 10 minutes to get to the COMES bus station, where you can catch a bus to Tarifa. For more information on how to get to Tarifa, click here.

Cheapo Accommodation

Tarifa is home to many affordable and comfortable accommodation options. The Melting Pot is popular with backpackers, and is right in the center of town walking distance from all activities and attractions. If you don’t want to share a dorm, which costs €13 (about $17) per night, they also offer a double room for €35 (about $45) per night. All rooms include breakfast.

For something a little more upscale but still affordable, Hotel Misiana is a charming, 21st-century hotel that starts at €39 (about $50) per night, including breakfast. And while you won’t find over-the-top luxury hotels in Tarifa, one that comes close is Hotel Copacabana, located just opposite Valdevaqueros Beach and in front of Los Alcornocales National Park. Room rates start at €85 (about $108) per night.

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I’ll be honest—I expected Lanzarote, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, located about 125 km west of Morocco, to be reminiscent of southern Tenerife or western Mallorca. I foresaw beaches lined with high rise hotel blocks, cafes dishing up fried English breakfasts or fish and chips, and tourists convening drunkenly on a neon-lit strip by night.

Just like Tenerife or Mallorca, I expected there to be a beautiful side to the island as well. The side where locals live and where restaurants serve up local food and the menus are written in Spanish. Where the beaches are undeveloped and the architecture is traditional. I thought Lanzarote would offer all that but that I’d need to work hard to find it.

I was wrong.

Discover the Green Lagoon (El Golfo).

An island of surprises

Instead, on arrival in Lanzarote I was greeted with the most unrelenting moonscape punctuated only by traditional little houses painted bright white. The mass of eerie black volcanic rubble and sand appears to just go on and on, a furious and completely infertile landscape that leaves you willing any cacti or palm trees to stand up and grow, even if the odds are stacked against them.

Many of the rocky black “fields” are being used as most unlikely vineyards, with little semi-circular walls of rock protecting the grapes from the elements. This manual form of making wine is so rarely seen, yet in Lanzarote it’s a real feature of the landscape, breaking up the intense blackness with little spots of green. It’s not beautiful in a typical sense, but there is something totally and utterly mesmerizing about it. I couldn’t believe it just kept on going, rolling black hill after rolling black hill.

When arriving at our accommodation (we found a great deal at the Gran Castillo Hotel in Playa Blanca), I expected to see the traditional architecture fade away to be replaced by fast food chains and an endless sea of hotels. But once again, I was to be proved wrong. In both Lanzarote’s tourist hotspots, Playa Blanca and Puerto del Carmen, while there is a vast selection of accommodation meaning it’s fairly easy to bag a bargain, it’s all thoughtfully planned stuff in traditional Canarian white-washed style – another well-kept Lanzarote secret that nobody seems to know about until they actually arrive!

The dream-like Jameos del Agua.

Enter Manrique

This was a relief but it also left me flummoxed. How on earth has such a tourism-dependent destination managed to avoid the fate of so many other sunny holiday spots? And why doesn’t anyone back home seem to know about it?

It didn’t take me more than a couple of days on the island to discover Lanzarote owes much of what it is today to one artist with a huge vision, Cesar Manrique. I’d heard of Manrique before, but had no idea how instrumental he had been in developing it as a tourist destination and preserving the traditional customs of the island.

Manrique had seen Tenerife transform into a lucrative tourist hotspot and watched in dismay as high rise after high rise block was thrown up on the coastline. The fact that tourism didn’t start in Lanzarote until 1966 allowed Manrique the chance to spearhead a campaign to stop unsightly developments on the island.

He lobbied for height restrictions on buildings and for traditional colors to be used on houses. He believed in sustainable tourism well before it became a buzz word and dedicated the latter part of his life to designing the island’s most fascinating tourist attractions, from the dream-like Jameos del Agua, to the “Route of the Volcanoes” in the Timanfaya National Park. He created all these attractions by embracing the volcanic destruction on the island and turning the rubble into something spectacular.

Manrique died in 1992 leaving a trail of lava tunnels and houses hidden in volcanic craters behind him. To this day, it is against the law in Lanzarote to paint your house anything other than white or beige and windows and doors must be green, blue, black or brown. The only building over a couple of stories high is the Grand Hotel in the island’s capital, Arrecife.

Unspoiled beaches

I wasn’t sure if Manrique’s influence would have managed to stop the spread of typical seaside tourist tackiness invading the beaches, but it was pretty easy to find an entirely untouched white sand beach. Papagayo was spectacular. We had a fairly steep climb over rocky terrain to get there (more difficult than I suspected in a pair of flip flops), but our efforts were rewarded.

Playa Papagayo is a vast stretch of white sand, so despite its popularity, it’s still easy to find a quiet spot to put your towel. Do take supplies as there isn’t even anyone trying to flog you drinks on the beach, but it does make a change and was yet another thing I didn’t expect to find in Lanzarote.

Explore the island:

Last Minute Transfers run excellent value tours across the island. David was an exceptional guide! Gran Castillo offers very generous double rooms from €100 per room per night, all-inclusive. For more information on Lanzarote, visit www.turismolanzarote.com.

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