Monte Paraiso - Attractions


	ATTRACTIONS
	Tarifa - Mecca For Windsurfers

Travelling to Tarifa from the Costa del Sol, you are in for a real treat. The road snakes its way along a beautiful mountain offering the most spectacular views of the Morocco's Rif Mountains - nothing short of awe inspiring. Africa sits majestically on your left, so close you feel you could almost touch it. This is one of only four places on the planet where you can stand on one continental land mass and see another. At night, from the Mirador del Estrecho it is possible to see car lights as they drive around in Morocco. It is small wonder that so many immigrants attempt to cross these treacherous waters - so close, yet a world away.

The landscape around Tarifa is different to the Costa del Sol. Hundreds of windmills take advantage of the steady wind that blows through the straights and the salty smell of the Atlantic Ocean fills the air as you catch your first view of Tarifa.
Surrounded by ten kilometres of white sand beaches and unspoilt rolling green countryside, it is immediately obvious why this undeveloped area is an outdoor lover's paradise.

The wild coastline makes Tarifa a Mecca for windsurfers. But on the main migration route for birds as well as the human immigrants, Tarifa is as just as famous for bird-watching, horse-riding, hang-gliding, kitesurfing, rock-climbing and diving. A combination that ensures the town has a curious mix of surfers; hippies and nature-lovers.

Tarifa's old town is small and compact, yet has a unique atmosphere and an enormous place in history. Tarifa takes its name from Tarif ibn Malik, who led a Musilm raid on this location in 710 AD. The town then became the first point of the Moorish invasion of Spain a year later. Tarif controlled the straights of Gibraltar, taking payments from anyone sailing in or out of the Mediterranean or crossing to Africa. Hence we have the English word 'tariff' (duty to be charged), or tarifa in Spanish.

Paseo de la Alameda is a typical Andaluz paved garden where children play and surfers and oldfolk share shady wrought iron benches or relax outside several tapas bars. The tourist information office is here and passing through the old archway you step into a maze of narrow streets where the Arab-style covered market is a must see. Wandering through the charming cobbled streets, beautiful wrought-iron railings and Arabic doorways transport you to a by-gone age and another culture. The huge, exotic doorways are set back from the streets in the Arabic style and open on to small, cool patios. Unique in Andalucia, Tarifa has the look and feel you'd expect to find thousands of miles away in exotic Zanzibar.

The labyrinth of streets leads to Calle Sancho IV El Bravo at the centre of the old town. This street is home to tapas bars, restaurants, interesting shops and the magnificent San Mateo church. The municipal museum, located near the town hall in Plaza de Santa Maria is also worth a visit and there are impressive views at Miramar Gardens nearby. Built in 960 AD, the Arabic castle of Guzman the Good is open to visitors. The original fortified walls remain tightly woven into the fabric of Tarifa's old town and the 8th Century Jerez Gate has recently been restored.

Outside the Jerez Gate, Tarifa's new town has a completely different character. Calle Batalla del Salado is awash with surf shops. Many of them offer courses for every type of water sport under the sun. Next to La Alameda is the old fishing port. Never redeveloped, local fishermen use a fishing method which has not changed since 13th Century. And across the road, at the entrance of the castle is a statue of local hero Guzman el Great. A short stroll takes you to Muelle de Rivera, a causeway leading to the island, Isla de las Palomas (now a military base). Known as Punta de Tarifa, this is continental Europe's the most southern point, where four metres separate the calm, blue Mediterranean from the wild, green Atlantic Ocean. Tarifa's clean, uncrowded, white sand Atlantic beaches stretch for more than 10 kilometres to the massive sand dunes at Punta Paloma. It is here that hundreds of windsurfers and kite-surfers make this town the European windsurfing capital. For those looking for frantic nightlife, you'd be better off on the Costa del Sol, but Tarifa's old town can get lively in the summer evenings and Tanakas disco is lively on weekend nights all year round.

Tarifa is a great place to explore, surf or just wind down. Although undeveloped, there are some excellent hotels and camping sites, right next to the sea further along the coast. So whatever your interests or budget may be, laid-back Tarifa is somewhere you should definitely see.