To you and me this is 'Rota'. Following the arrival of the Moors in Spain, the city became known as Rabita Rutta 'watchtower of Rota', from which it derives its present name - thanks Wikipedia!

You have to enjoy listening to church bells here given that they ring on each quarter hour to the melody of the 'Westminster chimes'. Then on each hour the melody follows with a 'gong' for the number of the hour. As for Sundays, well it goes on and on for what seems like hours! Hearing the bells actually adds charm to a town that has many attractive buildings, courtyards and squares.


our favourite square to stop for refreshments after food shopping!

In the old town stands the Luna Castle. It's one of the most significant buildings in Rota. It's very well maintained and currently home to the Town Hall and the local tourist board.


Luna Castle (13th century)

Rota naval base is home to thousands of people, 9,000 Spanish navy personnel, 2,000 US military personnel and their families, 3,000 Spaniards, 2,000 Americans along with 1,500 employees... a tiny bit of America here in Spain!

With the close proximity of the US Naval base it's not surprising that the town has been influenced a little as several bars and restaurants cater for the American clientele. Foods such as Burgers, Mexican, Pizza, etc. The majority of menus are written in English and Spanish and hearing American voices amongst Spanish is the norm.


Costilla beach, popular with sun-worshipers and us! The beach forms a grand arc that extends from the stones of the battery out as far as the eye can see.


El Rompidillo beach, popular with kite-surfers. An attractive promenade covers the whole length of the beach, ending at the town port. From there, there is a great view of the Bay of Cadiz.

To our surprise, Rota is an ideal place to base yourself in order to travel further inland. Between the bus station in Rota and the station in Cadiz it's possible to visit Algeciras, Chipiona, Jerez, La Linea, Malaga, Almeria, Barbate, Granada, Cartagena, Seville plus many smaller towns and villages in-between. We like it here and can certainly see why other yachties spend the winter here which brings us onto our wintering options as we've decided to leave Spain and return back to Portugal. Why? We have several reasons...

Firstly, this year's cruising season started out late August so we knew that if we wanted to reach Sardinia or Corsica by the end of the season, October(ish) we would have to rush through Spain and the Balearics paying high season daily rates. Putting the cost aside, rushing negates the reason why we're travelling by sailboat in the first place!

Adding to the above, as liveaboards, if we (not the boat) stay in Spain for more than 183 days in total in any one year we are deemed resident and can become eligible to pay matriculation tax. At 12% of the value of the boat this is something that we don't wish to pay given that we're just transiting the area. Apparently the tax isn't applicable throughout Spain, just certain areas!! Speaking with other yachties there is no 'area' list and you may or may not get 'caught'. Many yachties are taking the risk whilst others are not. We've met people who have got 'caught' and had to pay hefty taxes. Confusing? Very! Hence our decision to spend the winter back in Portugal and recommence our journey into the Med in early April 2016.