Less well visited Spanish costa, yet one of the sunniest (Costa de la Luz)

Member Name: Immlang

Product:	Costa de la Luz
Date:	12/09/08 (60 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relatively quiet

Disadvantages: Lack of development means it's less of an all-round destination

The Costa de la Luz, or Coast of Light, is that bit of the Spanish coast in the extreme South West, right next to the border with Portugal. As it is to the West of Gibraltar it is on the Atlantic, not the Mediterranean. This location means that the searing summer heat of southern Spain is tempered, if you are lucky, by breezes from the ocean. It also means that it is a little more isolated and a lot less developed than other costas in the southern half of Spain. I like it.

It is not hard to get to. It is within a couple of hours by car from Seville or Faro airports along decent dual carriageway roads from Seville (I don't know about the roads from Faro, in Portugal). When you arrive, you will find some differences from the more anglicised coasts: There are English bars and restaurants but they do not predominate; they are more like a scattering among a mainly Spanish-feeling ambience. There are English and northern-european tourists but again, there are more Spanish ones. This means that communication is more of an adventure, prices are more reasonable, and those working in tourism are less jaded with foreigners (us, that is).

The actual resort I stayed in was very close to the Portuguese border. It was part of a newly developed string of apartment blocks in a place called Isla Canela, itself a satellite of the established town of Ayamonte. There is not a lot in Isla Canela; just like Spain of the old jokes, it may be lovely when it is finished, but right now finished it is not and it abounds with building sites, waste ground and remnants of the salt marsh it once was. This is not as bad as it sounds, because there are acres of space on the pristine beach, the sea is shallow for a couple of hundred yards from the shore and there is a warm family atmosphere that means you can saunter back from a restaurant at midnight surrounded by couples, pensioners, children, cyclists, roller-bladers in a feeling of considerable security.

The area itself includes the Doñana National Park, which is a must-see for bird-lovers and nature-lovers in general and if you fancy a bit of industrial heritage and want to know how the Rio Tinto mining company started off you can visit the original river called Rio Tinto and the associated open-cast mine.

We visited one of the provincial capitals, Huelva. It seemed a nice-enough place; asking directions for the tourist office we stopped a chap in the street who went to great lengths to explain that we were better off not bothering as there was absolutely nothing worth seeing in the entire town and we were as well to leave immediately to go and see other places! We followed his advice and had a great day exploring inland parts of the area.

The Costa de la Luz is short on man-made attractions, but well worth a look for those with simpler tastes.

Summary: Great if you like a taste of independent travel