Finally in Cádiz!

Cádiz is where we began our cycle last year, taking the train from Malaga. I love Cádiz and was happy to be visiting it again. It has an extensive old town where you can easily get completely lost in its narrow twisting streets, beautiful plazas, an encircling waterfront of golden beaches, dunes, walls, fortifications, a promenade that allows you to almost completely circumnavigate the city, lots of vibrant cafes, restaurants and bars - and in one location the most beautiful collection of rooftops from various periods.

But we had to get there first before enjoying any of these delights and we were hoping again the route would be as enjoyable as the destination. We were not disappointed. I said goodbye to our beautiful hotel, likely a highlight of our trip accommodation, and we easily picked up the Eurovelo 8 signage again by retracing our route slightly in Novo Sancti Petri. Pretty much completely deserted streets. We started on a dirt rode, then briefly on a paved road but with a good protected bike shoulder, then onto a cycle path again into the town of Chiclana. Rain had been threatening though it was warm, and just as we rode under this restaurant awning, it began. Perfect timing - and it didn’t last long.

We cycled through Chiclana along the Rio Iro and then into one of the most interesting sections of our trip so far, the huge salt marches of the Bay of Cádiz.

I found a really interesting article on these salt marshes here and the attempts to reclaim, maintain and protect them for a whole variety of reasons.

https://ereb.eu/story/the-slow-recovery-of-millennial-old-salt-marshes-in-spain/

Some info from the article is below:

The Natural Park of the Bay of Cádiz opens out onto the Atlantic Ocean. This is the largest tidal wetland in Spain, protected under numerous international legislations including the EU Natura 2000 Network of biodiversity conservation areas. Most of the 10.5 thousand hectares of the park consists of salt marshes making a watery no-man’s land between the open sea and the coastal, industrial town in the bay. Previously disregarded as smelly and dirty, scientists have highlighted their crucial role in mitigating the impacts of the climate crisis. These special ecosystems form natural barriers against rising sea levels, and provide a critical defence against flooding. Moreover, coastal marshlands act as potent carbon sinks, absorbing carbon dioxide ten times faster than mature rainforests.

So our cycle to Cádiz took us eventually on a long meandering elevated path through the salt marshes. It had been raining a bit and the path was a bit mucky but not too bad.

We exited one part of the salt marshes at the town of San Fernando and rode along a cycle path for a bit, and then were back into that watery world again. We really enjoyed the quiet, the profusion of yellow flowers along with cacti in some places and the bird life, including a first for me, pink flamingos! And we met a young couple from Germany who had already been biking for several months and were heading the other way. We had a nice chat and they told me about another travel documenting app they use called PolarSteps.

Eventually we left the salt marshes, now under clear sunny skies and were on a boardwalk paralleling the beautiful beaches of the Atlantic through the dunes and onto the Cádiz peninsula. We had day-cycled most of this path last year when we were in Cádiz and had speculated about continuing south along Atlantic coast. And now we have.

It was interesting to begin to see things we recognized again and before long we were on the Paseo Maritimo that provides a beautiful cycle and walkway all along Cádiz’ beachfront. And finally, coming into sight was one of my favourite views of Cádiz, the clustered collection of roofs of different times and architecture that includes the Catedral de Santa Cuz sobre las Aguas (the Holy Cross over the Waters), built between 1722 and 1838. It was known as the Cathedral of the Americas as it was built with money from the trade between Spain and America. It was constructed over 116 years and so has baroque, rococo and neoclassical elements. It has a tower, the Levante Tower that you can climb for panoramic views.

We soaked up some sun on the promenade and then headed for Villa de Andas Suites (€137 for 2 nights), our apartamento in the old town, crossing the big plaza in front of the Cathedral, finding it in one of the narrow streets, almost right across from the old building housing the historical archives of Cádiz.