Cádiz is a province of southern Spain, in the southwestern part of Andalusia. It is the southernmost province on the Iberian peninsula, and only 14 km. from Africa. It borders the provinces of Sevilla and Huelva in the north, the province of Málaga to the east, the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast, the Mediterranean Sea and the Strait of Gibraltar in the southwest.
The city of Cádiz is the capital, although the largest city is Jerez de la Frontera. About half of population of the province live in the Bay of Cádiz area.
The six comarcas (provincial areas or counties) in the Province are:
Bahía de Cádiz (Bay of Cádiz)
Campiña de Jerez (Countryside of Jerez)
Campo de Gibraltar (Countryside of Gibraltar)
Bajo Guadalquivir (Lower Guadalquivir, or Northwest Coast, Costa Noroeste)
La Janda
Sierra de Cádiz (Cádiz Mountains)
Inland, Cádiz is characterised by white villages and rugged limestone mountains, cork tree groves and fir forest. It is home to six protected natural parks, including the rainiest place in Spain. Its Atlantic coastline (Costa de la Luz) has many fishing ports and is notable for its windswept sandy beaches, pine forest and marshland.
The natural parks are:
limestone cliffs and gorges, forests of Spanish fir and pueblos blancos. The Sierra de Grazalema is famous for its spectacular rugged limestone landscape of cliffs, gullies, caves and gorges. The region is the rainiest place in Spain. There is an ancient forest of the rare Spanish fir in the Sierra del Pinar on the slopes of Cadiz province’s highest peak, El Torreón.
There are are pueblos blancos (white villages), throughout the park often in dramatic settings. High rainfall and a limestone landscape mean that the rivers and springs are abundant. The principal rivers are the Guadalete, Guadiaro, Tavizna and Ubrique.
cork tree groves and “jungle”. This vast park stretches from Tarifa in the south to the Sierra de Grazalema in the north. It is named after its extensive cork tree plantation, the largest in the Iberian Peninsula. It is the best example of what the densely wooded, primeval Iberian forests may have been like.
The far south of the region is crossed by deep, narrow, humid V-shaped valleys, called canutos, which have been eroded by rivers and provide the ideal habitat for subtropical forests which only exist in Spain and Turkey but they used to grow in many other parts of Europe
windswept beaches and sand dunes. It is made up of a long stretch of coastline covering 18,931ha from Cabo de Gracia in the west near Bolonia and Punta del Carnero in the east, south of Algeciras. The park contains two separate seas, which meet at the Strait of Gibraltar: the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean.
The park has a wide variety of habitats which include long sandy beaches, with mobile sand dunes and cork oak forest. This coastline is famous for its strong winds, the levante (east wind) and poniente (west wind).
pine forest and marshes. A coastal reserve with stretches of rocky cliffs along the Atlantic coastline, with views over the sea and to the rocky headland of Cape Trafalgar and its lighthouse. Stone watchtowers stand guard along the cliffs overlooking the sea. The variety of habitats includes pine forest (umbrella pines)a densely wooded area that stretches inland from the sea cliffs , mobile dunes and major wetland area.
sandy beaches and salt pans. A landscape of sandy beaches, marshes, salt pans, freshwater lakes and tidal inlets. Salt has been extracted from the bay since Phoenican times, however only a few salt pans are in operation today.
marshy wilderness. One of Europe’s most important wetland reserves. The park as a whole comprises three distinct kinds of ecosystem: the marshlands, the Mediterranean scrublands and the coastal mobile dunes with their beachs. This mix of land and water has to created an environment uninhabited by people but ideal for wildlife.
