Tarifa is a small town in the province of Cádiz, Andalusia, on the southernmost coast of Spain. The town is located on the Costa de la Luz (“coast of light”) and across the Straits of Gibraltar facing Morocco. The municipality includes Punta de Tarifa, the southernmost point in continental Europe. There are four smaller villages which depend economically on Tarifa. They are Tahivilla, Facinas, Bolonia and Zahara de los Atunes.
The well-preserved Guzman castle, near the port, built by order of caliph Abd-ar-Rahman III (960). Annexed are the Guzmán el Bueno Tower (13th century) and the church of St. Mary, on the site of a former mosque, remains of the medieval walls. Of three gates once existing, today only the Puerta de Jerez (13th century) has survived.
Church of St. Matthew, built in the early 16th century in Gothic style, also over a former mosque. The façade was redesigned by Torcuato Cayón de la Vega in 1774.The ruins of the Roman city of Baelo Claudia, located nearby.
Tarifa has become a popular spot for northern-Europeans to spend their summers. The coast of Tarifa is also popular with windsurfers and kitesurfers due to the strong winds of the straits. For this reason Tarifa is also dotted with hundreds of wind turbines.
Tarifa is a renowned place to watch migrating birds, in particular the storks which cross the Straits of Gibraltar in spring and autumn. Also whale and dolphin watching can be done on the 14 kilometer wide Straits.
Tarifa is renowned for its African film Festival, whose first edition took place in 2004.
Tarifa features a Mediterranean climate with Oceanic influences, with warm summers and very mild winters. Rain is concentrated in winter, with the summers being largely dry. Because of its proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, precipitation in the wet period is quite high; monthly averages exceed 80mm in the two wettest months, December and January. The influence of the ocean has the additional effect of creating a very small annual variation in temperature. Winters are much warmer than those of continental Spain – a phenomenon also due to its southerly location – and summers are less hot than those of other areas of southern Spain – the average daily high in the hottest month, August, is only 24°C, significantly cooler than the temperatures experienced further inland in the Guadalquivir valley, and also a little cooler than those felt further East along the Mediterranean coast in places such as Málaga and Almería.
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