Sunset in Zahara de los Atunes
A coffee. A long walk along the shore of the Atlantic. Hours that pass unhurriedly with a book in their hands. A sun that warms but does not burn, some wind and a lot, a lot of peace . Zahara de los Atunes shows her most authentic face in autumn , when the locals take back their space.
Tourism abandons the place and there are hardly any who can enjoy its off-season holidays . They are the luckiest, they are huge empty beaches , restaurants where the local gastronomy is savored without haste and the feeling that the clock is ticking more slowly . Also sunny days that, even in November, invite you to lie on the beach until sunset.
When tourism leaves, the locals claim the peace of Zahara
"In autumn Zahara is more than calm, it's a real treat," he says. Mauro Basil , an artist who spends nine months each year in the town. In 2011 he launched I agree next to Argentina Eva Rollon , a small establishment where they sell their creations: ceramics, illustrations, bags, t-shirts or pictures are some of them, which always have the sea and its inhabitants as protagonists.
**Especially the tuna **, which comes out of a can of preserves as well as taking a selfie in a beautiful landscape. The establishment is open until mid-October, but Basile can be found until the end of the year at Sotto Scala , another small store that also serves as a workshop. "Winter is something else, that's why I usually go away for two or three months, but autumn is a perfect season to experience Zahara ", assures the Italian.
In the Sotto Scala workshop
Mauro takes advantage of the low season to enjoy totally empty beaches . They are, without a doubt, the greatest attraction of these lands of Cadiz. While the waves of the Atlantic defy an autumn dip, just over 16 kilometers of sand They extend from the old fishing district of El Carmen to its two extremes: to the northwest, the shore reaches up to barbate and, to the southeast, to the urbanization atlanterra next to the call Bunker Cove.
And, in both cases, the low season you live in a different way, with walkers who go from one end to the other of each of the beaches, a silence that is only broken by the constant noise of the ocean (and some Civil Guard quads) and the feeling that life is something else in this corner of the south.
Mauro Basile's workshop
A beautiful excursion is the one that leads to the Camarinal Lighthouse , a old 16th century watchtower that changed its use at the beginning of the 90s. The place offers a beautiful panoramic view of the Playa de los Alemanes with Cabo de la Plata on the horizon . Next to the lighthouse, a path descends between lentisks and coastal junipers to the Canuelo Beach , that if in summer it breathes calmly in autumn it does so in total solitude.
More sheltered and wilder, this area is unique, like the old bunker half-buried in sand that recalls the history of the Cadiz coast after the Civil War. Footprints along the entire coast, with more buildings and also machine gun nests which, luckily, today they are being reconquered by nature.
Natural life is another of the great local attractions and one of the best ways to enjoy it is on the route that, through a dense pine forest, connects Cañuelo beach with Bolonia beach , which geographically are one step away (two kilometers) but by road there are 40 kilometers that separate them.
Canuelo Beach
At dusk some of its neighbors go to the beaches closest to the urban center of Zahara ready to fish. An art called cast net joins the classic reeds , a circular net surrounded by weights with which fishermen catch buceles, gray fish that inhabit the areas closest to the shore. Still as statues, the oldest of the place wait to spot a small bank to launch the net, which opens like a parachute and they fall like lightning to get a good catch.
Subsistence fishing difficult to see outside of Zahara de los Atunes , and that provides a unique opportunity to get closer to real local life, to day-to-day life when the wind blows and tourism is gone. That is, almost all year. And that serves as a warning that the sun is about to go down , when the sky fills with colors and the Trafalgar lighthouse begins to shine opportunely, intermittently and constantly in the distance.
Carmen beach
Autumn is also the final opportunity to sample some of the delicacies that are cooked in the local stoves . In fact, the Ruta del Retinto is celebrated on the first weekend of October, which this year reached its eighth edition and included 23 tapas where creativity and flavor go hand in hand.
After this tribute to one of the most interesting meats in southern Spain, many of them are closing their doors throughout the first days of October with the Puente del Pilar as the limit . That is why the final stretch of September has the last days to try exquisite snacks such as the restaurant's Crab Bao Ramon Pipi , where the homemade croquettes (like spider crab) are crazy. Or the multiple ways of presenting tuna in the Camper's Tavern. Or the retinto carpaccio from the Gaspar restaurant . Also any of the dishes on the menu at ** Trasteo **, a tavern run by José Fuentes and Laura López, with dishes such as tuna satay.
However, there are those who stretch the season a little more . Until December 10 you can enjoy one of the great classics of Zahara of the Tuna : the **Antonio restaurant**. There the fresh market fish is the protagonist, with the black snapper, sea bass (whose season is precisely autumn) or the Strait bream as guest stars , without forgetting the amazing specimens of urta, "a fish that feeds only on shellfish and has an incredible sea flavor", says Pepe, the establishment's metre, who also recommends the tuna which, due to its freezing methods, it is available throughout the year "and always just as tasty".
Red tuna tartar from Antonio restaurant
Who also opens its doors until the end of the year is the aaron supermarket , which is much more than its name suggests: it is a passageway where you can find the best canned tuna, amazing wines, payoya goat cheese and fresh retinto meat. A great option for those who are more into cooking at home, and that it is complemented by the stalls of the tiny Mercado de Abastos, which is also worth a visit for the work of art that covers the entire ceiling and upper walls of the enclosure in blue.
But Zahara is much more than beaches and gastronomy , and becomes a wonderful base camp to discover corners of Cadiz. The beach of Bolonia and its dune, the beautiful town of Vejer de la Frontera, the Caños de Meca and the Trafalgar Lighthouse... And beyond Conil de la Frontera, Medina Sidonia, Los Alcornocales Natural Park.
Or experiences such as boat trips to see the swaggers of killer whales or dolphins up close on their daily walks through the Strait of Gibraltar or bird watching, since the area is one of the most important migratory routes in the world. Proposals that also help to overcome the days in which the capricious lift appears. A thousand and one plans, corners, waves and flavors with which to find in Zahara de los Atunes the best autumn sun.
On horseback along the beach of Zahara