The Bahia de Cadiz Natural park is located over a large estuary and the action of the sea, wind and river sediments deposited over the centuries have drawn a mosaic of landscapes from beaches, mud flats and marshes that make up the Bay of Cádiz.

It was declared a natural park in 1989 and is approximately 10,522 hectares of land bounded by the municipalities of San Fernando, Chiclana de la Frontera, Puerto Real, Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz.

The influence of the sea and the Mediterranean mild climate are the keys which established the special ecological characteristics of this wetland. It is home to a wide variety of species such as molluscs, crustaceans, fish and waterfowl and there are still working salt marshes in the park.

The wetlands and the river estuary also form a large barrier between Chiclana de Frontera and San Fernando. By car, the most southerly route is via the A48 motorway but by bike or foot, passage across the wetlands wasn’t possible.

Not until the summer of 2022 that is. A cycle / footpath trail crosses the wetlands and was integrated into the Euro cycle route number 8 (Eurovelo 8). EuroVelo 8, named the Mediterranean Route, is a 7,560 km long EuroVelo long-distance cycling route running from Cadiz, Spain to Athens, Greece, and then continuing to İzmir, Turkey and to the island of Cyprus.

Today we would cycle across the newly-opened section across the wetlands. Bridges criss-cross the estuary tributaries and there is an abundance of birds to be seen. There’s an impressive air of tranquility in the park which is surrounded by the urbanisations of San Fernando and Chiclana de La Frontera.

The start of the track in Chiclana is at the location of “explorer.humans.landmark” (What3words).

We cycled our usual route to La Barosso and then headed north along the western edge of Chiclana. This was the worst part of the journey with no dedicated cycle track although most of the route is 2 lanes in each direction with a speed limit of 30km/h and priority for cyclists in the right hand lane.

We keep stumbling across various pieces of art / sculpture – Melkart. This is Melkart number 6 and here is what we found on Google.

Mellkart was a Phoenician divinity from the city of Tyre, to whom the temple of Heracles in the ancient city of Cádiz was originally consecrated. His cult, centered on the sacred fire of the cities, spread throughout the colonies of Tire. It was the Phoenician form of the god Baal.

“Chiclana, of Phoenician origin” recreates in the municipal term the journey that the first Phoenicians followed when they arrived on our shores, disembarked and settled on Cerro del Castillo. In other words, it allows you to visit the beaches of La Barrosa and Sancti Petri, cross the marsh (Bahía de Cádiz Natural Park) and follow the course of the Iro river –a natural link with our history– until you reach the site of Cerro del Castillo, the origin of the network urban area of ​​the city of Chiclana, and its future interpretation center, called Nueva Gadeira | Archaeological Space.

The route includes an itinerary between two viewpoints located on La Barrosa beach, near the Torre del Puerco, and on Avenida Reyes Católicos, in front of Cerro del Castillo. Between them run ten milestones marked by the identifying figure of Melkart, the main god of Tire and also of the Gadeira Islands.

In the waypoints there is information of each god Melkart.

Finally we reached the San Fernando trail head.

Our journey today was just a fraction under 64km (40 miles) so we are rather pleased with our efforts.

We even had the chance to stop for a beer on the journey back.

*****

The weather was a little warmer today (high around 16C) but for around 2 weeks we have experienced some very cold temperatures. Overnight lows close to zero and daytime highs around 10 -12 C. But it has been very dry so you just need to wrap up well.

On Sunday, we walked into Conil and had a Tapas lunch at “La Cantina de mono”. This is rather a trendy bar, managed by Antonio who previously worked at the Campsite bar / restaurant.

Saturday and Joe took off on his bike for a 22 mile circular ride from the Campsite to La Muella, Vejer de la Frontera, El Palmar and then back along the cycle path to Conil.

On Friday we drove to the outskirts of Chiclana and caught the new tram system which operates between Chiclana and Cadiz. It was everything we expected – cheap, clean, efficient and a great way to travel into Cadiz.

There are a selection of photos from our trip below – and of course much more information is available in diary entries we have made from prior years.

Friday evening was another communal meal at the restaurant, along with musical entertainment (and no, it wasn’t “Spanish Elvis” tonight)!

Monday and Thursday mornings, Joe is persevering with his Spanish lessons and spending half an hour or so on the Duolingo app every day.

On Wednesday we took the bus to EL Palmar and walked back to Conil – it’s a decent 8 mile hike. Masks are still compulsory on public transport in Spain.