Barbate

It looked like it was going to be a nice day so without much prior research we headed to the Atlantic fishing port of Barbate, approximately 150kms (93 miles) to the southwest of Olvera.

After a good journey of about two and a half hours, stopping on the way for coffee and toast, we arrived and followed the road into Barbate ending up on the riverside at the edge of town.

We walked for a while along the Paseo Marítimo that continued to the seafront.

Realising that we'd parked the car a fair distance from the main fishing port we returned to our car and drove back into the main part of town.

We picked up the Paseo Marítimo again and strolled in the pleasant sunshine towards the port area.

The beach was more or less deserted.

The lighthouse.

After a short while, we entered the port area.

We'd obviously missed the unloading of the day's catch but the area was still very busy with a lot of activity around unloading and mending the nets.

These fish laid out to dry in the sun.

The last resting place for many rusting anchors on the quayside.

Years of use are evident in the barnacles and remains of crustaceans attached.

We left the port, passing by a memorial in tribute to a fishing vessel, the "Joven Alonso" from Barbate, lost at sea in December 1960 with 39 crewmen on board, none of whom were recovered.

After a visit to a nearby resort of Caños de Meca, we returned to Barbate and stopped at what looked to be a popular Venta just outside the port area.

What else to have but delicious fish, probably caught that day, and a selection of fish in a salsa sauce. Clearly, we had not seen all that Barbate had to offer, concentrating our visit mainly on the seafront and port area but it is well worth perhaps exploring more on another occasion.