18 May 2010 - Flying visit to Cadiz

Its only 20 miles from Jerez to Cadiz, less than an hour on the coach. It was gone 6pm by the time we reached the city. This was only a “flying visit”, with a drive around the old city and an hour to walk around. This photo was taken as the coach approached the old city walls.

We were particularly interested as Cadiz was important during the Napoleonic Wars as the location of the Spanish government after the French occupied Madrid. We hoped to see something of the city fortifications during our short stop, and were not disappointed. The coach left us near the tourist information office, and they were able to direct us the short distance to the city walls and the main entrance to the city.

We found this near the site of the old city gate. It was on the wall of a collection of buildings which must have been storerooms or perhaps living accommodation for the garrison. This one is in memory of a “Hero of Baylen”, and in the city centre we also found one to the “Hero’s of the Battle of Trafalgar”. The Spanish fleet sailed from Cadiz to fight the battle against Nelson.

The area around the city walls has been turned into a garden and sports play area. This appears to be quite normal; we found the same at Badajoz some years ago.

The city walls and site of the old entrance seems to have little changed, except for this rather strange, and very Spanish, yellow monument. Unfortunately it was not possible to gain entry to the walls themselves.

We were surprised at the width of the city. It is possible to walk from one side to the other in about 5 minutes. This photo covers almost the whole width.

We did not have time to explore any more of the city. But on our coach tour we could see that there was much of interest. Cadiz is now a popular holiday resort, and there is not much of the original fortifications to see. However there are large military looking buildings here and there which now seem to be used as commercial premises. Certainly a city we would love to return to with more time to explore it properly.