The battle of the Costas
Simon Calder

10/21/1995
The Independent - London

From this rocky outcrop, battered by waves and blustered by wind, I see no ships. But 190 years ago today, on the last day of his life, Lord Horatio Nelson saw plenty. The Battle of Trafalgar was fought out that day within sight of this bleak headland. A lighthouse clings to the sand only a little more steadily than do the scraggy grasses and timid thistles. A gale is blowing up out of the east. Trees shrink back from the shore. Tenuously attached to the southwest coast of Spain, Cape Trafalgar is the wild and windy apex of a triangle to melt the heart of the most battle-weary tourist. The only land approaches are via two fine towns; what is more, the deep south of Spain has been largely neglected by the British for nearly two centuries.
Nelson led a tired British fleet into battle on 21 October, 1805. Had Nautical Miles been as collectable as today's Air Miles, the Admiral and his men would have been in clover. They had pursued the shadow of the combined Spanish and French fleets for most of that year, around the Mediterranean and across the Atlantic. Napoleon's plan was for Nelson's fleet to be lured to the West Indies by the French-Spanish squadrons, which would then hurry back to support an invasion of England. The scheme failed, and Nelson was safely home in August, when he learned the enemy was assembling in Cadiz for an assault on Gibraltar.

The day of the battle was unusually calm; the 12 signalling flags on HMS Victory must barely have fluttered. In 1805, naval heritage hinged not on National Lottery cash but on the assumption "England expects that every man will do his duty". In the last great battle under sail, the 33 vessels of France and Spain outnumbered Nelson's force by six.
Today, no lights appear on the horizon as the October sunset tears through the sky. Onshore, the hilltops are crowned with windmills - the shiny, energy-harvesting variety, pinioned like thorns into the dry soil and spinning fast.

From the water, you can see how the protruding Cape recedes quickly into the hills, which in turn surrender to the brutish mountains of the Sierra del Cabrito. Amid the desolate terrain, one summit is dabbed brilliant white. Vejer de la Frontera is one of the pueblos blancos, white villages, that dot the southern fringes of Andalucia. The province was a zone of conflict between the Moorish "infidels" and the Catholic monarchy.

A stiff, uphill climb deposits you sweatily in a town square occupied by a disproportionately ornate fountain: water splashes from a grandly tiled tower on to giant porcelain frogs, while pastel blues and sun-braised yellows compete for attention. This spectacle is about as energetic as the town gets. While the populace siestas, you can admire the shocking white buildings. The builders of the low, bleached cottages and tall, blank church paid no heed to contours. So the more you explore the tangle of alleys linked by narrow stairways, the more gloriously lost you get and the more dead-ends you discover - most concealing a lovely Andalucian courtyard. From a dusty doorway someone emerges, unusually dark-skinned and sharp-featured for a Spanish person. The face speaks of an endless beating by the wind and glazing by the sun, the voice is coarse Spanish, stripped of Castillian pretensions and consonants. North African genes are still disseminated widely in Andalucia; the Reconquest of Spain did not mean the immediate expulsion of the Moors.

By the 19th century a united Spain, even with its New World interests, was easily the weaker partner in an alliance with France. One reason was population: Spain, like England, was home to 10 million people compared with France's 25 million. Following the Revolution, Napoleon had built his reputation and power-base on a series of military successes. When France was proclaimed an Empire in 1804, he became Emperor. And he intended the Empire's first strike to be directly across the Channel. Nelson adopted the best form of defence.

Nelson never lived to learn the extent of his triumphant attack. Naval warfare was conducted at viciously close quarters and the Admiral, standing on his quarterdeck, perished not in a broadside of cannon but from a single shot from a sniper; the tiny musket ball is now Crown property, and on display from today at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich. He was one of 449 English fatalities that day; the opposing fleet suffered 10 times as many, including that of the Spanish admirals Gravina and Churraca. More than half the enemy ships were sunk, and none of the surviving vessels saw active service again. In contrast, all 27 ships on the English side survived.

In 1995, Spain is winning the battle of the Costas. After despatching the BBC's Eldorado from its location in the Andalucian hills, the Spanish have succeeded in keeping the Costa de la Luz from colonisation by the British.

The third point of the Trafalgar triangle is that unspoilt beach and fishing port you have always wanted to discover in Spain. The locals have known about Barbate for years. At this resort, equidistant from the wild winds at Trafalgar and the indolence of Vejer, you cannot move for seaside restaurants serving pale, chilled sherry as an appetiser. Real working fishermen set sail from a real working port. The golden sands stretch as far as the eye can be bothered to see, an arc of emptiness sweeping away towards Gibraltar - Britain's shred of Spain.

The colony was captured a century before the Battle of Trafalgar. Gibraltar is still a geopolitical anomaly, but its military significance has diminished since the end of the Cold War, and with it the Navy's presence. These days Gibraltar's scruffy streets are full of Spanish shoppers in search of cheap cigarettes and a cut-price version of England. Evidence of Britain's tenure survives, such as at the Trafalgar Tavern where you can pay for your Full English Breakfast (even down to the sliced white bread) with Bank of England notes. Across the road, the Trafalgar Cemetery bears witness to those who died after the battle. Squeezed between the Rock and the dock, the graveyard shows Captain Thomas Norman who died in Gibraltar's Naval Hospital in December 1805 after a "severe wound receiv'd in the great and memorable sea fight off Trafalgar".

Nelson's corpse paused at Gibraltar; his second in command, Capt Collingwood, wrote the day after the battle that "The cause of Universal Lamentation is the death of the Noble Commander-in-Chief." It took 40 years before Nelson was honoured properly, when the new square at the heart of London was named after the distant cape. At its centre is the admiral's likeness concealed from close inspection atop the ungainly column. You can see enough to conclude that he is not looking towards Portsmouth. Nor does he glance across to Greenwich, where his life story will be unveiled this morning by a descendant of the man who administered the dying kiss (anyone dressing as Nelson or Emma Hamilton, his mistress, gets in free). No, Nelson seems to be peering south-south-west, over the horizon to a broad sand-bar with a rocky conclusion poking out into the Atlantic, from which his ships came safely home.

How to get there

Simon Calder paid pounds 140 including tax for a London-Malaga return on Viva Air (0171-830 0011). Cheaper tickets are often available on charter airlines. The airports at Jerez, Gibraltar and Seville are closer to Trafalgar, but fares tend to be higher.

From Malaga airport, the easiest way to continue is to rent a car. Alternatively, take the train to Fuengirola and connect there for a bus to Marbella. From Marbella there are direct buses to Cadiz which stop at La Barca de Vejer. This is a 10-minute uphill hike from Vejer de la Frontera, and a 10-minute bus ride from Barbate. To reach Cape Trafalgar, take a taxi or hitch-hike.

If you wish to include Gibraltar, buses run between La Barca de Vejer and the town of La Linea - from where you walk across the border.

Where to stay

At Cape Trafalgar itself, there are a couple of cheap hostels a short way inshore. In Barbate, try the Pension Napoleon on the main street.

Who to ask

Spanish National Tourist Office, 57 St James's St, London SW1A 1LD (0171- 499 0901).

What to read

In a thin field, the best book is the Cadogan Guide to Southern Spain by Dana Facaros and Michael Pauls. A new third edition is due to be published early next year, price pounds 12.99.

What to go and see

The Nelson exhibition at the National Maritime Museum begins today and runs throughout "the Nelson Decade" until the year 2005. See page 16 for details.

DONALD MACDONALD

"I haven't a clue where Trafalgar is, but I'd imagine it's on the Continent - France perhaps?"

"It was named after the Battle of Trafalgar, but I don't know when or where it took place"

JANE O'NEILL

"Nelson and so on. That's all I know"

BRIAN WARDLE

"The Battle of Trafalgar took place off the coast of southern Spain, early 1800s sometime"

NADIA MILLER

"It got the name from the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. Nelson's forces fought off the Cape of Trafalgar near Cadiz and won, and hence his glorification with the column here on Trafalgar Square"