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party capital... cádiz

Robert Friedlander is won over by the wild celebrations and cheery disposition of the gaditanos

If there’s a happier, more optimistic group of citizens than the gaditanos, I’d like to meet them. I bet they could throw a hell of a party. To be honest, it would be a tough call because every year Cádiz plays host to the best, the wildest, most hedonistic – most everything – celebration in Spain. The city’s carnival is a legend in a country whose fiestas are legend.

It’s not just about saying goodbye to winter (such as it is in here in southern Andalucía), nor about drinking as much as possible for 10 days and nights, nor even about having the opportunity to publicly ridicule politicians and celebrities in song. 

Carnival in Cádiz embraces all of these and something else besides: an almost reckless sense that you have to live for the present. You never know what might be round the corner, so make the most of tonight, crack open another bottle of wine and hit the streets.

There’s good reason for the gaditanos’ cheery approach to life. This may be Europe’s oldest surviving city – founded more than 3,000 years ago by Phoenician traders – but it has seen its share of misery.

It was here that Drake “singed the King of Spain’s beard” by destroying half the Spanish fleet at anchor. Regular sackings and plunderings at the hands of England’s Elizabethan sailors followed. A couple of centuries of prosperity peaked with Cádiz’s brief moment as the home of Spain’s liberal parliament almost 200 years ago, but long decline and a pounding at the hands of Franco’s troops left the city reeling.

Through all this, the warmth of the welcome and the cheeriness of those who live on this compact, fist-shaped peninsula, have remained constant. The elegant buildings may be crumbling in the face of salty Atlantic air, but the locals’ response is to plaster the walls, slap on another coat of whitewash and get on with life.

White is very much the colour of this singular city – that and the blue of the skies which stretch above the narrow streets of the casco antiguo on the western side of the Puerta de la Tierra, the huge gates and walls which mark the end of the new town. The whiteness of the buildings has a milky quality, unlike the starkness of the villages a few miles inland.

Here, the moist air moderates the light – and the temperatures – adding to an almost other-worldly atmosphere as you wander down streets half a mile long yet so straight you can see the ocean at the far end.

Straight they may be, but the passageways and avenues and plazas crammed into such a small space make it far from easy to navigate here. The best way to get your bearings is by heading upwards, and the best view of rooftop Cádiz is from the tower of the city’s cathedral.

The steep hike up 250ft of ramp in the Torre de Poniente is worth the effort. An audio guide (in English) points out the city’s landmarks: its great churches and monasteries, its parks and plaza.

But it’s what lies beyond that draws the eye. The huge dockyards and the ring of towns spread out around the bay, and to the east the causeway linking Cádiz with the rest of Spain shines like a silver ribbon in the sun. To the west, though, all you can see is water. The sense of being at the edge of Europe is palpable.
Closer at hand, the shining yellow dome of the cathedral dominates. This is an odd building, partly constructed in honey-coloured stone, partly in white. But it is inseparable from the Cádiz skyline, and as much a part of the city as the hundreds of feral cats which sprawl on the rocks beyond the promenade below.
A few short steps away is the Torre Tavira, which has the bonus of a camera obscura so you can spy on the citizens and pigeons going about their daily round.

Towers of varying design pierce the skyline throughout the old part of the city. These watchtowers, built in the 17th and 18th century, sat on top of the grand private houses owned by traders and enabled them to monitor the movements of their own and their rivals seagoing vessels.

The price of goods would fluctuate according to supplies so knowledge of which boat and what cargo were arriving from Spain’s colonies in the Americas was crucial.

Back at ground level, the streets converge on Plaza San Antonio, the Plaza de España and the Plaza de la Mina and the layout begins to make sense. What’s still a mystery is how upwards of 150,000 people cram into these houses and apartment blocks. The streets may be lined with paint-peeled mansions four storeys high, but it doesn’t add up. It’s only when you sneak down one of the ground floor passageways that the answer is revealed: they open out into vast courtyards, with apartments and flats on all sides. Some even have bungalows and inner terraces of houses running off the patios.

This propensity to live in each other’s pockets explains a lot about the welcoming nature of gaditanos. You can understand, though, why they head for the long beach which fringes the city’s southwestern edge whenever the chance arises.

The smaller Playa Caleta may be much treasured as a hangout for city-dwellers, but the wide, golden sands of the Playa Victoria are where gaditanos go to play. There are basketball courts, volleyball courts, football pitches – even a rugby pitch – laid out on the beach. But there’s also plenty of space to spread out a towel, take in the sun and go for a paddle or a plunge in the Atlantic.

The locals are often accused of adopting an ‘island’ mentality. Maybe so, but they can always take a car, bus, train, even boat and be in Spain ‘proper’ within minutes. If, that is, they can think of a good reason for leaving town. I’m not sure they need to all that often.

what to see

Cathedral (Plaza de la Catedral). Big, odd-shaped but beautiful all the same. The landmark of the city and home to the Torre de Poniente, which offers breathtaking views. Entrance to tower: €3,50

Torre Tavira (Calle Marqués del Real Tesoro, 10 www.torretavira.com) . Another one for lovers of heights. There’s a camera obscura here offering an insight from above into how the city goes about its business. €3,50

El Vapor Take the 45-minute trip across the bay to El Puerto de Santa Maria and its top-notch fish restaurants. Boats throughout the day from 10am at the jetty opposite the bus station on Avenida del Puerto. €4 one way. Information: 629 468 014 www.vapordeelpuerto.com .

Museo de Cádiz
Archaeology and fine art come together in this elegant building on Plaza de Mina. Open 9am-8pm Wed-Sat, 9.30am-2.30pm Sun, 2.30pm-8pm Tues. EU citizens free. Tel: 956 212 281

La Caleta Beach
Stroll along the water’s edge as the sun sets beyond the city’s two fortresses and the rowing boats bob in the tiny harbour. The bar at the western end is great for sundowners

eating

Balandro (Alameda de Apodaca, 22; 956 220 992; www.restaurantebalandro.com ) is a smart, modern restaurant with an interesting menu. Better still is the tapas bar where you order large plates of modern takes on this traditional fare for around £2.50 a time. Two or three are all you need.
Restaurante San Antonio (Plaza San Antonio, 9; 956 212 239) sits on one of the city’s principal squares and offers traditional local cuisine – heavy on fish and shellfish.

Aljibe (Calle Plocia, 25; 956 266 656; www.pablogrosso.com) the best of a clutch of modern-thinking restaurants which have opened around Plaza San Juan de Dios. Asian chefs add their own twist to Andalusian food with impressive results for around £20 a head.

San Francisco Uno (Plaza San Francisco, 1) sits in a lovely little square. Specialties are stews and vegetable dishes.

El Faro (Calle San Félix, 15; Tel: 902 21 10 68) is renowned for fried and grilled fish and combining fish with vegetables – a rare treat in southern Spain.
You can’t visit Cádiz without indulging in a tapas crawl: bite-sized prawns, seafood stews, morcels of pork and venison and – increasingly – vegetarian snacks at every stop – of which there are many, all over town

drinking

In Cádiz it would be easier to list where you can’t drink. There are bars and cafes of all styles and sizes in every street of the old town. The liveliest area is between Plaza San Juan de Dios and Plaza San Francisco. The best place for flamenco is the Barriada de la Viña, the old fishermen’s quarter

further information

Details from the city’s tourist office (Mon-Fri 9am-7pm; Sat-Sun 10.30am-1.30pm; Avenida Ramón de Carranza; 0034 956 203 191;
e-mail: otcadiz@andalucia.org