ZAHARA DE LOS ATUNES

Zahara de los Atunes is a small fishing village 30 km north of Tarifa surround by 8km of unspoilt white sandy beaches – awarded a EU white flag - stretching north to Barbate.

The village is a very quiet, laidback place – reminiscent of a Mexican coastal town, with its low-rise, whitewashed houses and empty streets with the odd small convenience store or bar. If you are looking for Hotel Zahara de los Atunes
there are a few hotels and beach bars, and there’s also a large, dilapidated fortress which leads onto the beach. Nearby is the tiny resort of Bolonia, a surfers’ mecca.

More hotels and houses are starting to crop up on this idyllic stretch of beach which is dotted with the odd fishing boat and the odd figure paddling along the water’s edge.

Zahara’s where you come to escape. As you leave the main Tarifa-Cadiz road (N340), you immediately feel a sense of detachment as the small Zahara road heads towards the coast through vast expanses of corn-coloured fields and cactus hedgerows. You enter the flat, whitewashed town and within a minute or two you find you’re already on the way out – it’s that small! On the outskirts of town is Atlanterra, a luxurious development of apartments and townhouses set in landscaped gardens and next to a five-star hotel. Prices here are higher than in the village itself, where apartments and townhouses cost from 140,000 euros and new beachside penthouses from around 300,000 euros.

Instead of turning off for Zahara, if you continue 9km along the coast you reach Barbate – a beautiful drive along the edge of stunning beaches. Barbate is an earthy, very Spanish beachside town, with a busy main shopping street and backstreets with mainly apartments. It’s popular with Spanish holidaymakers – and Germans.