Tarifa is an old fishing town located at the southernmost tip of Spain on the Costa de la Luz.

Due to the fresh gales that sweep across this rugged coastline, it has escaped the pitfalls of progress which blight Spain's other coastlines.

Taking advantage of its unique topography, Tarifa has reinvented itself as a windsurfing Mecca in the last few decades.

Yet it remains much more than a surfer’s paradise.

The irresistible blend of tempered sun and virgin landscape attracts a veritable feast of adrenalin junkies along with an international population of artists, musicians and alternative travellers seeking the natural lifestyle that Tarifa offers.

Today, psychedelic doorways and exotic window displays signal ethnic clothing and crafts shops, Indian and Moroccan furniture shops, street-side cafes, funky bars and chilled bistros.

They spice up the picturesque old town (or casco antiguo in Spanish); a labyrinth of snaking cobbled alleyways and whitewashed facades that salute the endurance of the region’s Moorish heritage.

In the town's port, a 1,000-year-old castle stands as a stoic reminder of the town’s importance as a fortress for bygone empires.

These days, only the original walls remain triumphantly offering a panoramic that spans two continents and two oceans.

Tarifa’s tiny land mass juts out into the sea just below Gibraltar marking the spot where the Atlantic and Mediterranean seas meet and providing the shortest crossing point between Africa and Europe.

The peaks of Morocco’s Rif Mountains shimmer and beguile across the Straits. A nearby-submerged island is believed by some archaeologists to be the true site of the mythical Atlantis. To the west of Tarifa lies Bologna, a popular garrison and resort town under the Roman occupation.

The legacy of these exotic influences endows the region with a rare spirituality and a vibrant personality.

Tarifa is truly a magical place.

But more than that, it is a slice of real Spain; its rural traditions, its vibrant culture and its romantic landscapes and all just waiting to be discovered.

Guide to Tarifa