Costa de la Luz

Inland
routes
The route of
the ventas and the bulls
Church of Santa María.
Medina Sidonia
Ten kilometres inland rises
Vejer de la Frontera, a
veritable watchtower of Arab
origin, from where one can see
the entire coast from Tarifa to
Cadiz. The triangle formed by
Vejer, Medina Sidonia and
Alcalá de los Gazules is known
as the Route of the Ventas,
because the area contains
more country inns offering
local cuisine than anywhere
else in Andalusia - or Spain for
that matter. The route is
busiest at weekends as visitors
flock to try venison, gazpacho,
pork loin in dripping or a
variety of game dishes.
Alcalá de los Gazules is worth
a visit to see the church of San
Jorge and the hermitage of
the Virgen de los Santos.
Medina Sidonia, classified as
a monumental town, still
preserves three Arab gates,
remnants of the ancient
fortress whose stones are said
to have been used to build
the Cathedral of Cadiz.
The best place to view Medina
is the Cortijo Pocasangre, from
where the town resembles a
ship of which the church
tower is the mainmast.
This is also the route of the
fighting bull; in the area are
many estates where these
animals are bred for the
Alcalá de los Gazules
bull-ring. Another town,
Benalup, is the entry-point to
Los Alcornocales natural park,
where visitors can see the
Neolithic paintings in the
Cueva del Tajo de las Figuras,
literally the “Cave of the
Painted Gorge”.
The white towns
Running parallel to the
coastline rises the mountain
range known as Los Pueblos
Blancos, or The White Towns,
so-called because they are all
Sierra de Grazalema
whitewashed. This route
commences in Grazalema, a
mountain area classified as a
natural park, whose
outstanding point of interest
is the pinsapo, a species of fir
which is a living relic left over
from the last Alpine glacier
period. At the other extreme
Arcos de la Frontera, probably
the loveliest of
all the towns
in the range,
stands
Arcos de la Frontera