El Puerto de Santa Maria

El Puerto de Santa Maria is a coastal town in the Southwest of Andalusia. It is belonged to a resort area Costa de la Luz that is composed of the shores of Huelva and Cadiz provinces. El Puerto de Santa Maria is popular with Spaniards mostly. The town has 22 kilometers of shoreline divided into 8 golden beaches.

The town of El Puerto de Santa Maria was founded in ancient times. It has always been a busy port city. Since times when Columbus accomplished his famous Voyages to America El Puerto de Santa Maria has become important international market town. In nowadays, El Puerto, as neighbouring Jerez de la Frontera, is famous for sherry production. The town even has a local holiday dedicated to sherry, Feria del Vino Fino, which is celebrated during a week in May. However, thanks to the location of El Puerto de Santa Maria in the Southwest of Andalusia, tourism is the most important source of income to the exchequer of the town.

Undoubtedly, the first that attracts tourists to El Puerto de Santa Maria are its golden beaches and wonderful weather. The beaches of El Puerto are much less crowded and spoilt than the beaches of Costa del Sol, the most popular resort area in Andalusia. The town is surrounded by two national parks: Complejo Endorreico de El Puerto de Santa Maria and Parque Natural Bahía de Cadiz. So, people looking for unity with nature will enjoy airing there. Also, there are lots of old buildings that certainly worth a visit in El Puerto: the 13th century Saint Marcos Castle, the Cathedral, Casa de los Leones and El Puerto Museum. In addition, as many towns in Cadiz province, El Puerto de Santa Maria has a bullring where famous Spanish corrida takes place. The bullring was built in 1880 and it seats 15 thousand people.

It is easy to reach El Puerto de Santa Maria from Cadiz city crossing the bay of Cadiz by ferry. It will take about 40 minutes. The nearest to El Puerto de Santa Maria international airports are in Seville situated 120 kilometers to the North and in Gibraltar 125 kilometers to the Southeast. There is also railway station belonged to Seville line.


Photo is published under the public license: Mossaiq.