Barbate has a great position to wait for the right weather to traverse the Straits of Gibraltar and a reputation for being miles from the town and rather desolate. A deserved reputation on the distance point though there was a number of other boats coming and going whilst we were there. Many locals use the marina quayside as their exercise route. It’s a long walk to town though you don’t have to go all the way round the road as it appears at first, there is a cut around the quayside that shortens it a bit. Another three day stop as we waited for the weather to be right. We explored the town, reasonable shopping, a market with good fish (we got very good tuna steaks) and very expansive produce displays (we bought figs, asparagus and nectarines and got some nice strawberries thrown in free).
We started early one day and did the walk that’s marked on local maps out around the cliffs to the next town. The first half up to the main tower was fine (try to stay up above the beach or it’s a scramble up the cliff) and the view was good from the tower. The second half down into Los Canos de Meca was disappointing, mostly in quite deep sand and few views and the place when you reach it is a beach strip without much in the way of cafes or bars for refreshment. You can continue round to the lighthouse on Cape Trafalgar but that adds another 30 minutes and on arrival we found the only bus for the next 5 hours was about to leave, so we came straight back to Barbate and had our coffee there.

Photo: Gulls swarm a fishing boat returning to Barbate harbour in the morning.