A COSTA EAST OR WEST OF GIBRALTAR? Or Four means of transport to the Costa de la Luz!

Written by John and Gill Sims from Devon, after return from 2 weeks in El Puerto de Santa Maria

October 2002

Gibraltar is once again having plenty of national press coverage due to its strategic position, but let's leave all that to the British and Spanish politicians, because for us, Gibraltar's main role is to separate the two COSTAS - "del SOL" and "de la LUZ"!

My wife and I have flown down to Malaga many times to enjoy all that the Costa Del Sol has to offer, but as years have past we have found ourselves moving further along the coast towards Gibraltar for a rather more relaxing quieter type of holiday.

During one of our stays, we did drive 'past the rock' to take a look at the town of Algeciras. To me it appeared to be very busy, dirty and not interesting except for the fact that I had my first ever taste of Swordfish, a meal that I have enjoyed many times since. We had not paid another visit to this area of the coast west of Gibraltar since that time, but all has now changed because this year - 2002 - we have spent two most enjoyable weeks on the Costa de la Luz!

Can I introduce ourselves? My wife is called Gill and my name is John and are both retired. We live 16 miles from Plymouth in Devon, England. My wife has a sister who lives in California USA, and one day she phoned my wife to say that her daughter would be riding in the World Equestrian games being held at Jerez, Spain during September 2002. We told her there was no way a member of our family would appear at a world championship without us being there to support her !

With that said, we got down to planning and booking the holiday. We have never been the types to throw ourselves at the mercy of the travel agents, and the thought of two weeks in a hotel does not appeal to us at all. So at the weekends we bought all the papers with, at other times of the year, confounded heavy holiday supplements and searched for any small ads in the Costa de la Luz area. We do have a computer and we are on the Internet but let me assure you, we do not live at the 'cutting edge of technology', but we both agreed to have fun and book the whole holiday though the NET.

The agreed plan for our holiday: Fly out to Spain - Two weeks in an apartment on the Costa de la Luz - then Train through Spain with overnight stop in Madrid - then on to Santander on the North coast to catch the Brittany Ferry back to Plymouth !

We arrived at Jerez to find we were the only plane unloading and within minutes we were in our taxi driving down to El Puerto de Santa Maria. While surfing the Net, this is the town in which we had found our apartment. It is owned by an English family who are refurbishing it to a high standard and it just happens to be featured on this web site !! For us, the Town and the apartment together are a winning formula. The apartment is very comfortable, and in an ideal area of the town, with the shops, and all the wonderful restaurants close. The surprise to us was the beach! With the location of the town at the mouth of a river, we somehow had not expected such a fine clean sandy beach, with a good selection of bars and restaurants.

It would take many words to tell you all what we feel and love about El Puerto de Santa Maria and its' surrounding areas, to us this is the "real Spain". We came away thinking that this part of Spain has been hidden away from the rest of the world, because the Spanish wanted to keep it just as it has been for years and only for themselves !!

Did we have a problem with the 'spainishness' of the area ? In other words, the language? We got along OK by always having with us a phrase book, and if we ever needed any further help, look for some local youngster who would have enough knowledge of English to help !

They say in today's world it is all about Location, location, Location when talking about property. This town has it all with the towns of Jerez, Seville and Cadiz all close for day trips and the many fine beaches of the Costa de la Luz within one hour's drive away. We spent a wonderful day on the beach at Conil de la Frontera. The white villages " pueblos blancas" are also at hand.

We hired a car for 10 days of our stay, and if you want to see the area, then a car is essential for part of your holiday, and when without a car, the town has a lot to offer by itself. When visiting Cadiz, Seville or Jerez use the local train - you will find it cheap, clean and a great way to see the area. It has so much culture to see and admire.

At the end of our stay it was the train which took us though the heart of Spain (we know now what the plain in Spain looks like !) to Santander on the North coast. You can do the journey in a day, but we recommend you break the trip with a one or two night stop over in Madrid. At Santander we caught the Brittany Ferries 24 hours sea journey back to Plymouth and home. Their publicity states "have a mini cruise" and this is what it was like for us. We sat down on loungers on the sun deck sipping a glass or two of wine, totally relaxed after our wonderful holiday. I turned to my wife and said "Gill, have we won the lottery??"

We are now left with many wonderful memories, plus a few T shirts and the odd bottle or two of wine and when we drink or wear these, many happy days will be remembered.