Spain's Forgotten Costa
November 20th, 2007
The golden swathe of sand stretched for miles into the hazy horizon and here and there little groups of sunbathers basked beneath the brilliant blue sky. I had to pinch myself to remember that this really was summer time in the south of Spain! Around the corner of the coastline, on the Costa del Sol, the beaches would be stuffed with sweltering bodies. But here in Conil de la Frontera, on the largely undiscovered Costa de la Luz, my family had found tranquillity. Admittedly the waves rolling dauntingly towards us were of the Atlantic ocean, not the tame efforts of the Mediterranean, but the marvellous beaches of this coast have something for everyone.
Fronting Conil is the Playa de Los Bateles, a family beach scattered with little wooden cafes and watched over by lifeguards.
Further north, you find more sheltered coves. Head south and you find the surfers and discover a topless and nudist area – although we resisted baring all!
Conil is one of Andalucia’s ‘pueblos blancos’ or white towns, all of its buildings being painted white. Until recently, it was just a small, traditional fishing community.
These days, with the assets of its beaches and its pleasant architecture, including a 14th-century tower, the town is waking up to tourism. But there are none of the concrete, high-rise developments that have scarred other parts of the Spanish coastline.
For the moment at least, it’s busy for just six weeks of the year, from mid July until the end of August. And even then, most of the town’s visitors are Spaniards, so the resort loses none of its traditional flavour.
Full story from roundtownnews.co.uk
