Southern Spain, Gibraltar and Portugal

Hello everyone

The Costa del Sol was a pleasant drive through Malaga and Fuengirola, where we stayed on a free stopover with many other ‘vans. It was lovely and warm here, so we were back in our shorts and T-shirts. We continued through Marbella before parking up at La Linea de la Conception at the border with Gibraltar.

 

After passport control, we walked across the runway to Europa Point at the southern end where you can see Morocco across the Strait of Gibraltar. Unfortunately, the cable car to the summit is closed for repair during January, so we then walked up to the Ape Den to see the resident tail-less Barbary macaques. The weather was glorious – very sunny and warm.

 

 

From here, we headed south to Tarifa and the most southerly point on mainland Europe. It’s so windy here, especially on the causeway where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

We then headed north to Seville – a lovely and compact town with an old bullfighting ring, huge cathedral and beautiful palace in the Parque Maria Luisa. At Plaza de España, there is a huge semi-circle of decorated ceramic tiles depicting regional scenes – beautiful.

 

 

 

 

We travelled north-eastwards into Portugal to visit Capo da Roca – the most westerly point on mainland Europe ; it's a pretty spot with a lighthouse and small museum.

 

  

The landscape has become more agricultural with rolling hills, and large areas of cork trees looking bare where the trunks have been stripped of their bark. We’ve also had rain today – our first encounter since mid-December!

Will post again next week - love to all