The Spanish Costa de la Luz - which is the southernmost part of Europe directly opposite Africa, curving back west-northwest towards Portugal - strategically begins at Gibraltar, at the Pillars of Hercules... where the Phoenicians once hesitated to venture further, into the Atlantic Ocean that - that vast, unsurvivable stretch the Mediterranean opens up into from there.
The first shot is of Gibraltar itself, taken from the Playa de Getares in Algeciras on the other side of the bay.
It's windy down south from Gibraltar, the wind blows mostly from the East and is therefore called "Levante" - surfers, especially wind surfers, are predominant on the Costa de la Luz.
So the Phoenicians founded cities. They likely founded Tarifa, which is now a small walled town at the southernmost tip of the Iberian peninsula - you get there via a winding but well-built and rather fast road full of impatient drivers, over the hilly tops, where Spain looks rather lush, a bit Scotland-like at times. Well - at least from a distance ;)
On the second shot, taken from that road through the car window (be careful about where you stop the car, there's just a few likely places), you can see the ferry boat coming from Tangiers, and the Morrocan coast line across the Estrecho, the Straits of Gibraltar.
A second shot (the earlier one is a crop from a different but similar shot), you can see that there's a lot of traffic going through those straits, as much as on the hill road. You can see the road leading down and around towards Tarifa. This is literally the place where two continents and, let us say, two oceans meet. I'll try for better quality next time I pass by, we only had the old Olympus 4/3rds from 2005 last time. The hills are full of windmills... not the Don Quijote sort unfortunately - the turbines. The sparse few on the picture are Morrocan ones - trying to catch up and do their part in slicing the streams of migratory bids crossing over there every year into smithereens.
Over the hills and far away, so there - we're on the highest dune over the beach of Tarifa and looking at the Morrocan coast through a tele lens. The mountain, the same one as on picture two, is called Jebel Musa by the Moroccans and La Mujer Muerta by the Spaniards, it's just a few miles from Tangiers (which would be a few inches to the right). The town of Tarifa and its long beaches remain invisible towards the left (that's just a small promontory with the lighthouse - the actual southern tip of Europe, in the picture, called Isla de las Palomas, which is pronounced Iladelapaloma, and which Anglo-Saxons can't pronounce anyway ;).
But more about Tarifa, the beaches, the watering holes (the place is full of little bars and restaurants) and the incredible amount of history found there, where you stumble over the deeds and leftovers of Neanderthals, Phoenicians, Greeks , Romans and Saracens with every step you take, in a different post .
Lovely photos and a poetic narrative. Well done.
The comment about impatient drivers is too apropos. I lived near Madrid for a couple of years and refer to that time as "2 years combat driving experience in Spain". Motor oil and machismo is a terrifying combination. Tu pene esta bastante grande, senor. Dios mio!
Regards,
Rick
Couldn't elaborate... also, I learned how to drive in Spain, and Portugal used to be worse back then.
To this day I have a faible for creative and surprising, sometimes life-saving lane-changes...
I do admit I have an edge in dealing with angry Spanish drivers, but also I swear they have become somewhat more civilized - except in Sevilla. Je ne regrette rien !