THINGS TO DO IN AND AROUND VEJER

There are often bullfights, or corrida de toros, in the general region; Vejer has a running of the bulls at Easter  and there are rings at Jerez, El Puerto de Santa Maria, San Fernando, Algeciras and famously at Ronda and Sevilla (the famous La Maestranza) and beyond - about 25 euros upwards for good seats. Click here for a schedule.

EATING, DRINKING, TOURING

Vejer apparently has more than 40 bars sprinkled across the town but we've pared that back to about 6-10 worth visiting.

Until recently, Vejer generally lacked stand-out restaurants, the foodie revolution still to catch on in this conservative area. However, a number have opened up which get good reviews; Restaurante Trafalgar in the main square, Veracruz and its French chef behind the arch, and the Moroccan-themed restaurante in the boutique hotel Califa, also in the main square. Beyond Vejer, at the main El Palmar beach, La Chanca beach restaurant is superb.

Most bars do reasonable tapas. Bars in Spain are mostly upbeat places for families and friends to have a nibble, a gossip or, as the Spanish call it, a tertulia, a group of conversationalists vigorously exchanging views and information accompanied by coffee, sherry or beer and much gesticulation.

Probably the most popular bar in Vejer is Bar Arriate, run by the charismatic Rosa Romero and her brothers Jose-Mari and the younger horseman Ramon. It is on the Corredera, the chequered promenade overlooking the view. Arriate attracts them all, Rosa playing up to the old Francoistas remembering the good old days to los yupis to farm workers and tourists.

Another good spot is Pepe Julian on Calle Juan Relinque, near the central market. Pepe, his wife Consuela and two sons are very friendly and this bar is one of the best places to eat in Vejer. Consuela does a mean paella (order in advance) and Pepe likes to solemnly carve the delicious pata negra ham and he likes charging a lot for it as well. They sometimes do grilled lamb chops too. Pepe's boquerones, anchovies marinated in garlic and olive oil, are a winner here as generally are the marinated olives, aceitunas. Another good snack they do is atun con pan and lobito con pan, both little fish sandwiches. The calamares fritos are good and the champinones al jerez, mushrooms sauteed in sherry, are very difficult to go past. The G & T's are refreshing, the beers are cold, Pepe's got a good array of sherries (not to be mistaken for the sickly stuff your mum drinks) and you should try an accompanying chilled fino or manzanilla. Generally Pepe's is also a fine place.

A newer and (at the moment) very good restaurant is Trafalgar is the main Plaza de Espana. Its lovely to sit outside in the square on a warm night and it has the best food in Vejer, modernish Spanish and reasonably priced. There's always a fresh fish dish and an interesting soup, invariably on a gazpacho-related theme. The bar is friendly here as well but the restaurant service can be a bit hit and miss. The Moroccan Califa is very good, descending down off the square into a delightful terrace of an interestingt boutique hotel. Across the road is La Chozita, the creperie run by the young Frenchman Freddie and his Haitian wife.

Another eatery is the Meson de la Juderia, on Calle Juderia, the old Jewish quarter. A quiet, woody bar, with an upstairs terrace, it ranks as one of the best places to have a drink and contemplate the evening, and the interesting view. The food, however, is uninspiring and recommended only if other places aren't open.

There is a pizzeria on Calle Juan Bueno (part of the village 'ring road' that our street is also part of) opposite the post office. Run by Italians, it does good thin-crust, wood-fired pizzas and reasonable salads. There's a pleasant little terrace out the back of the store.

Two other worthy spots are on Calle Nuestra Senora, or Calle Ntra Sra as it is written, near the main church - Bar Janis Joplin and La Bodeguita. They are almost opposite each other under the town wall arches and on hot nights it's great to sit outside with a drink. The groover who runs Joplin also arranges summer-time flamenco on the terrace in front, though he is personally more inclined to Hendrix/Doors. Appropriately, Joplin has a Woodstock feel with music circa 60's and 70's while Bodeguita attracts a yuppie-based crowd.

A bit down Calle Los Remedios hill after Arriate and the main T-junction is La Posada, a more traditional bar/restaurant/hostal that is better than it looks for an unpretentious sit-down meal, tapas and sturdy breakfast, despite the hardcore morning smokers/coughers.

Out of town, at the attractive Santa Lucia hamlet (about 500m off the N-340 below the town), are two nice little restaurantes, La Tajea and La Castilleria. Both boast good steaks and fish with fresh vegetable meals, interestingly prepared and set in pleasant gardens. Tajea's 'revueltos de ajetes y gambas' (wild asparagus & prawn scrambled eggs) is excellent as a brunch.

The groovy beach bar/restaurant La Chanca in a converted tuna fish factory is simply fabulous and the only way to spend a day at El Palmar, the Vejer town beach about 10km away . Its about 1km left from the El Palmar beachside roundabout. Usurped by La Chanca, Restaurante San Francisco on the beach at El Palmar, is still worth a visit. The menu here is basic but very good quality, cafe, fresh-squeezed orange juice and breakfast, another swim, relax, read, play around, then a lunch of mixed salad and various grilled seafoods and fishes. Early-ish morning on a hot day is good as a few local farmers get down there selling fresh watermelons and you can breakfast on one au naturel. A dusk dinner at El Palmar as the sun sets over the Atlantic after a hard day's beachcombing is near the top of Vejer experiences.

Further afield, there is Pinto's bar and restaurant at the bottom of the Vejer hill by the Rio Barbate on the Algeciras side - an area also known as La Barca - which is solid enough with pretensions to sophistication. The woodwork in here is done by the same guy who renovated our beams. 

The beachfront seafood places at Barbate are other good spots for lunch or late afternoon meal and ice creams. Barbate itself is pretty uninspiring, although it has a raffish charm. The sea promenade is about the only place worth a visit, perhaps stopping by the fish market to buy fresh sashimi tuna before the Japanese, who control the local fishing industry, do. Further afield, good, occassionally excellent food of the 'bohemian bourgeois' (read: exotic salads) variety is had at the Hotel Hurricane, an almost-fashionable Euro-windsurfer lodging near Tarifa on the N-340, 30 mins south of Vejer. Tarifa has the usual run of places catering to a surfer crowd.

Flamenco!                                                                  Picasso was from Andalucia (Malaga)    

TOURING: THINGS TO DO, PLACES TO VISIT:
BEACHES:  

THE BEACHES AT CONIL..........................................AND EL PALMAR

Vejer is a beach town without being a beachy town. There are a dozen great and near-empty ocean beaches within 30 mins. drive, with one or two very famous such as Playa de los Almas, or Beach of the Souls, at Cape Trafalgar, so named because bodies washed up here after the decisive 1805 sea battle won by Admiral Horatio Nelson's English fleet over Napoleon's Franco-Spanish ships that was staged just offshore.

The closest and most frequented beach is El Palmar, about 8km away and said by London's Evening Standard to be one of Europe's Top 20 beaches. With its selection of beachside bars and restaurants, its considered Vejer's town beach. To get to it, one drives through a Mexican-style landscape of cacti, open fields and wild horses. Its fully sign-posted from Vejer. Conil to the north has some decent beaches, though more populated in summer months but Conil is a common or garden unprepossessing resort town.

A particular favorite is Bolonia, about 40km south of Vejer toward Tarifa and accessible by turning right (as you travel south) off the N-340 highway at the signs for the Roman Ruinas Baelos, the archaeologically-interesting spot adjacent to Bolonia beach. Its also popular with (illegally) immigrating Africans (some of their discarded skiffs litter the beach and, presumably, their remains the sands beneath) and with nudists, who gather in the northern dunes and like coating themselves with the  mineral-laden mud found there.

The water here is as clear as any Thomsons brochure and the beachside restaurants offer simple fishy fare but always good and fresh. The downside is the wind and this is one to visit on a breathless day. There's good snorkelling and spear-fishing along the headland to the north, or right as you face the beach, 

Los Caños de Mecas, about 15 km south of Vejer, is the groovy beach scene for young Spanish holidaymakers and so-named for its cliffside waterfalls, the caños. cascading onto the beach. Look beyond the tourist developments to the secluded coves to the south from the cliff walk south to Barbate. Another top spot is the beach past Los Caños toward Barbate, accessible by following the road into the hills behind and heading toward the lighthouse. Park near the lighthouse and walk about 500m to a secluded beach, ignoring the "do not enter" signs of the unfussed and absent military. This is near where ex-Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez has a holiday house as, apparently, do many Germans who supposedly are descendants of Nazis to whom Franco gave asylum after WWII (note the many German-registered BMWs and Mercedes and massive houses). An oft-heard urban myth in Vejer, probably nonsense, is that these characters let off commemorative fireworks on Hitler's birthday.

DRIVES:

Andalucia is a touring dream (consult the guides) with the roads of a very high standard, thanks to the 1992 Sevilla Expo, Olympic-inspired upgrades and the federal need to whittle down the region's 20 per cent unemployment. The Costa de la Luz area is fascinating to explore.

Closer to home, Medina Sidonia is a good spot for a wander around, as is Jerez and its sherry bodegas and famous equestrian school. Nearby Arcos is stunning (stay at the Parador). The nearby Cortijo Fain is where Sara and Eric got married in 1998, with its lovely pool set in an olive grove.

El Puerto de Santa Maria is a jaunty port with some fine seafood eating by the portside. For snacks, try and find the Tortilleria, with dozens of varieties of tortilla, or the famous Romerijo in the centre of town for fresh seafood purchased yourself at the bar in paper and eaten at the table. Its bullring is hailed as one of the finest in Spain. The nearby sherry centre of Sanlucar de Barrameda is where you kick off to go to the El Rocio pilgrimage in La Doñana, reputedly Europe's largest national park.

Further on, Cadiz is supposedly Europe's oldest city and the old town is charming, fascinating (make for the Plaza de los Flores) and quite gay (it has a wild Mardi Gras Carnival that would give Rio a run for its money). Its from here and Sevilla that the Spanish colonised Latin America.

Sevilla is one of Europe's great cities, worth a long day trip and an overnight stay at the Hotel Las Casas de La Juderia in the old barrio is memorable.

Ronda is a great day trip and the backroads between Vejer and Ronda, and Ronda and the Costa del Sol through Jimena de la Frontera and Grazalema are two of the most beautiful drives in Europe. The Grazalema Nature Park is a must for walkers. The place to eat in Ronda is the excellent Tragabuches restaurant, in Calle Jose Aparicio just off the main plaza. There is also a stunning parador here.

Gibraltar is a blot on the landscape, albeit one good to pick up the London papers (after 2pm when the morning flight has arrived) and interesting history. Don't drive into Gib but park outside in La Linea and walk/bus in across the airport. Gently ignore the touts on the La Linea side who claim to be official parking attendants. Take your passport and don't leave valuables/maps visible, anything suggesting you are a tourist. Gib and La Linea probably aren't the armpit of the world but you can certainly smell it from there.

Much further afield is glorious Granada and its famous Alhambra (you can ski there as well in the Sierra Nevada, or explore the Alpujarras region) and captivating Cordoba and its Mesquite, both probably too far for a day trip but well worth a visit.

IMPORTANT WHEN DRIVING AROUND:

Make sure you take all valuables out of your hire car in places like Cadiz and Sevilla. Also remove as much as possible any evidence that you are a tourist as your car will almost surely be broken into. Vejer is fine but its a good idea to get into the habit. 

MOROCCO: 

Fleshy, anarchic Tangier is interesting enough to poke around for a day-trip from Vejer but the best places are further on in Fez, Marrakesh and Ourzazate. Casablanca is average. Guide books should take over here but Tangier is best reached from Tarifa on the hovercraft/hydrofoil or from Algeciras on ferry. The first takes about an hour, the second 2-3 hrs. Passage tickets are acquired from sign-posted kiosks near the Spanish ports. In Tangier, try and stay at the excellent Hotel El Minzah at the top end, the Hotel Rif (pretend you're Jack Kerouac) in the middle (ask for a duplex room, a room with a staircase) or the Continental in the medina (the charming/intriguing Mr Absalom is the manager). Cafe de Paris in the centre of town is a top spot for taking the Tangerino pulse. A visiI to Chaouen, Vejer's identikit village near Tetouan, is interesting as a contrast. If you are heading back to Vejer from Morocco, its always a good idea to stock up on great French bread, mint, saffron and other spices not easily found in southern Spain.

ACTIVITIES AROUND VEJER:

Horse-riding is great with the colourful Manolo Camargo, at the hipoteca below the town on the road to Medina (you can see the ring it from the Corredera outside Arriate). He takes you on trails through farmland and lets you have some head with the horses if he reckons you can ride. He'll give a demo of Andalucian horsemanship and show you all his trophies. Part of Manolo's appeal is that he's a show-off, and a flirt. About 8-10 euros an hour and you can be a friend of the Australianos here as well.

The bodega below the town, Gallardo, is another interesting place to sample some sherry and have a tapa or two. Its near Pinto's restaurant at the La Barca bus-stop on the Algeciras side of the town. 

Golf, among many other activities, is played nearby at the palatial Montenmedio complex en route to Barbate, and further afield at Novo Sancti Petri outside Chiclana and the famous Ryder Cup course at Valderrama, near Sotogrande. Find general Spanish golf info here.

Vejer has a Spanish-language school, as does Conil. The main teachers are Juan Carlos and Francisco. Its where Danish university students and the like study, have holiday romances and titillate the locals.

At the nearby hamlet of Santa Lucia, a nice little waterfall is centred on a Roman aqueduct, which is very pleasant on a hot day. Nearby is La Muela hamlet, which has a outdoor pizzeria.

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