Costa de la Luz

A holiday destination for vacationing Spaniards, in recent years the Costa de la Luz has seen more foreign visitors, especially from France, Germany, and the UK.

Aside from the beaches and the sunshine, there are ample opportunities and facilities for leisure activities, like fine dining, golf, kitesurfing, boating, and other water sports.

Among them are the Doñana National Park, where endangered species, such as the Spanish imperial eagle and the Iberian lynx (Felis pardina), can occasionally be sighted; the Bay of Cádiz; the steeply-pitched shorelines of the southern section of the Andalusian coastline; the salt marshes of Barbate and the seaside cliffs at La Breña (both within the La Breña y Marismas del Barbate Natural Park); and the wetlands at the mouths of the rivers Tinto and Odiel, where there is a profusion of water fowl and, in season, other migratory birds, including storks and flamingos.

Cultural attractions include Baelo Claudia, the well-preserved ruins of a small Roman city; Cape Trafalgar, where, in 1805, in sight of this promontory, the English admiral, Horatio Nelson, defeated a combined French and Spanish fleet; and La Rábida Monastery.

At the Rábida Monastery in Palos de la Frontera near Huelva, Christopher Columbus sought the aid of the Franciscan brothers, hoping to enlist them as advocates for his scheme to launch a voyage of discovery.