Walk 6118 - El Lentiscal from Playa de Valdevaqueros, near Tarifa

    
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This is not Spain, it is paradise, miles of golden sands and not a hotel or parasol in sight. And if you make it to the end of the walk, you are rewarded with the beautiful ruins of an ancient Roman town. Please do not do this walk, leave it for me!

From Tarifa you can see the Rif mountains in Africa just 9 miles (15 kms) away. Valdevaqueros Bay is very popular with kitesurfers and there are a couple of camp sites nearby. However this is a vast area of beach and it could never get crowded.

You start from Playa de Valdevaqueros, which is just east of Punta Paloma. To reach the start, follow the coast road from Tarifa in the direction of Cadiz for a few kilometres to Kilometre 74 and turn left down the lane towards Camping Paloma. Pass the camp site and take a left turn a few hundred yards later. This soon leads you down to the beach. There is plenty of parking space.

The walk can be as long as you wish. To complete the whole route adds up around 18 kilometres (11 miles) but you can shorten this and still enjoy the solitude of this beach washed by the Atlantic rather than the Mediterranean.

After parking walk onto the beach and turn right, away from Tarifa. Just turn back when you have had enough. The Roman ruins are at a little place called El Lentiscal and are well worth a visit. If you do not walk all the way, you can get to El Lentiscal by car too. Turn right by the beach to get to Claudia Baela, the Roman town.