Tarifa to Seville - March 2012

Tarifa(Southernmost point of Spain) - Sevilla
Day 1 12/03 Tarifa - Zahara de Los Atunes 32 kms
Had to wait for supermarket to open so didn't get away until 10.05, lovely walk along wide, long beach staying close to sea where sand is firm, strong wind from behind and sun at back. Lots of wind-surfers and Kite-Surfers. Off beach by some Roman ruins at Boronia and up into the hills then down to Cabo de Gracia lighthouse with lovely views back down the coast to Tarifa. Down hill into very posh beachside suburb of Atlanterra and lots of new housing developments, finally discovered first bar of the day 3kms before Zahara and had a couple of beers! Into Zahara at 7.30pm and getting dark quickly, bought food and wine in supermarket, no time to look for cheap hostel so pitched tent on beach nervously ignoring "No Camping" signs.
  Day 2 13/03 Zahara de Los Atunes - Conil de La Frontera 34 kms Total so far : 66 Kms 
Up early before the Guarda Civil spotted me, packed up, ate my chocolate donuts and Milk breakfast (good for energy!) and on the road at 8.30pm. Another long wide beach walk of 10 kms to Barbate, saw guy bent over double pushing huge trolley with his worldly possessions, apparently walking all around Europe for world peace and anti-personnel mines (see Photo).Had a cheap breakfast in bar then great walk along cliff-tops to Los Caños de Meca, beer and tapas in bar then along beach full of Kite-Surfers to Cabo de Trafalgar off which the famous battle was fought, then difficult soft-sand walk along beach to El Palmar where I wanted to stop for the night but saw no hostals so pushed on to Conil where I found a great room over a bar for €15. Nice little town, got maps at tourist office and got on internet at Library, Cheese rolls and wine in room for dinner.
Day 3 14/03 Conil de la Frontera - Chiclana de la Frontera 30 kms Total 96 kms 
Spent some time on internet so didn't get away until 10.40am, lovely cliff-top walk to Puerto de Conil with beautiful beach and sea views,then down into Roche which was nothing more than a long sprawling suburb with only 1 bar in which I duly forced down a beer. Then it was a long slog thru the seaside suburbs of Novo Sancti Petri and La Barossa to Chiclana, big dual carriageways and roundabouts and when I got there I couldn't find anywhere to stay, I don't just mean cheap places but anywhere at all, so I just ploughed on thru the city and finally found a hostal on the way out of town just before dark. Had to pay €25 for a crappy dark little room with lots of noisy traffic going by. Found a supermarket and got food and wine then sat in front of the TV. Day 4 15/03 Chiclana de la Frontera - Puerto Real 22 kms Total 118 kms 
Decided to bypass Cadiz, it seemed there was no way to get to it except on the hard shoulder of a motorway which is not only unpleasant and dangerous but illegal as well, also the last 10 kms into Cadiz would be the same 10 kms out the next day. so straight on to Puerto Real. Away by 9.30 am thru the suburbs of Chiclana gradually becoming country roads then lovely walk along tree-shaded paths to outskirts of Puerto Real and another 4kms slog into the city. Not much to say about it either, walked around for an hour or 2 but couldn't find anywhere to stay so bought provisions at supermarket and walked out to the other side of town. Found a lovely park with lots of joggers, cyclists and walkers, at about 7pm I got off of the main track,found myself a big clump of bushes and pushed my way thru to the centre where there was a perfectly concealed little clearing just big enough for my tent. So I set up camp then lay in the tent looking up at the stars and sipping my wine, this was much better than any hotel room! Was a bit worried about what might be living in a rather sinister-looking hole disappearing under a tree trunk next to the tent though! Rammed empty wine bottle into it later to ensure no nocturnal visits from strange beasts during the night!
Day 5 16/03 Puerto Real - Jerez de la Frontera 26 kms Total 144 kms 
Yet another "de la Frontera" destination today, after an uneventful night I packed up and after a rather quick walk along a river bank I found myself in Puerto de Santa Maria, then a long boring drag thru the suburbs to a track which ran parallel to a motorway all the way to Jerez. Usual slog thru city streets to the centre then, unable to find a cheap hostel, I ended up in a crappy hotel room for €30, which had a really weird shower arrangement which involved not only water from the shower head but venomous high-speed jets shooting out horizontally from the wall, combine this with the usual Spanish contempt for the shower curtain and the bathroom was soon ankle-deep in water. Had a walk around the city later, seemed to be quite lively around the shops though the bars and restaurants were rather empty, couldn't find an eating house to my taste so ended up dining in my room.
Day 6 17/03 Jerez de la Frontera - El Cuervo 25 kms Total 169 kms
Usual haul thru the suburbs then another track beside a motorway all the way to El Cuervo, found a decent Hostal straight away for €15 so was quite pleased with that. There was a festival going on in town called "El Dia del Pan" (Day of the Bread) and they had a big fair going on in the streets with dodgems and stalls selling local delicacies and a big marquee had been erected to host a fashion show which was packed solid. Can't think why a small country town would be so interested in this but they were busy applauding every model that walked down the catwalk. Quite what this all had to do with bread I couldn't figure out Day 7 18/03 El Cuervo - Las Cabezas de San Juan 28 kms Total 197 kms Nice walk across country tracks to Lebrija where a coffee and bun was taken, then a dusty wide track out of town. After El Dia del Pan yesterday it seemed that today was "El Dia de la Bici" (Day of the bicycle), and the cyclists were out in their hordes, with little children in baskets on the back and little dogs in baskets on the front! They gradually disappeared during the morning and the track began to follow an irrigation canal completely straight as far as the eye could see, lots of brown ploughed fields and the earth all cracked and dry. Eventually a dusty white track spat me out into the small town of las Cabezas de San Juan, paid €20 for a room over a bar which turned out to be a full-on apartment with a seperate lounge and a kitchen with a microwave, cooker, fridge and WASHING MACHINE! I couldn't believe it and threw every article of clothing I owned into the wash! Had supper on the coffee table in front of the TV!
Day 8 19/03 Las Cabezas de San Juan - Utrera 28 kms Total 225 kms 
Nice walk across rolling countryside then alongside irrigation canals again, then in a pointless wide arc away from Utrera and back again. Utrera a really nice lively city with some busy plazas, found a Pension on the way out of town for an outrageous €30. The room was the smallest I've had and the bathroom was just a long narrow strip of the room behind a sliding door, which you had to open so that you could sit on the toilet about 50cms away from the bed! Cheese rolls and chorizo for dinner.
Day 9 20/03 Utrera - Sevilla 34 kms Total 259 kms 
Away from Utrera at 8.30am after coffee in a bar, soon off the main drag and onto country roads then across some nice green countryside for a change, the waymarking arrows disappeared for a long time and I thought I was going the wrong way before they eventually showed up again. Trailed into the town of Guadaira at lunchtime and had a beer and snack in a bar then out of town along a track beside the Rio Guadaira until the little yellow arrows disappeared for good. My Spanish guide book said to walk along between railway tracks and a wall then turn right when wall ended. All very nice except there was no wall, so just followed the rail tracks deeper and deeper into a kind of Mad Max futuristic urban wasteland with rubbish piled up everywhere. Eventually decided to turn right thru some derelict houses then after a tour thru what appeared to be a trailer park/gypsy encampment and being stalked by very hungry-looking and agressive greyhounds I emerged onto a main road and got my bearings again. Then a long haul thru the suburbs of Seville until I popped out into an area I knew very well and made my way to an ice cream shop I'm inclined to frequent when in Sevilla. So, that's it, over the last 2 and a half years Ive walked from Estaca de Bares(Northernmost point of Spain) to Tarifa(Southernmost part of Spain), and having also walked from East to West in 2007, I suppose I'll have to think about doing it diagonally - not! Regards to all Rick