TARIFA , spreading out beyond its Moorish walls, was until the mid-1980s a quiet village, known in Spain, if at all, for its abnormally high suicide rate - a result of the unremitting winds that blow across the town and its environs. Today it's a prosperous, popular and at times very crowded resort, following its discovery as Europe's prime windsurfing spot. There are equipment rental shops along the length of the main street, and regular competitions held year-round. Development is moving ahead fast as a result of this new-found popularity, but for the time being it remains a fairly attractive place.
If windsurfing is not your motive, there can still be an appeal in wandering the crumbling ramparts, gazing out to sea or down into the network of lanes that surround the fifteenth-century, Baroque-fronted church of San Mateo (daily 9am-1pm & 6-8.30pm), which has a beautiful late Gothic interior. Also worth a look is the Castillo de Guzman (Tues-Sun 10am-2pm & 4-8pm; ¬1.20), the site of many a struggle for this strategic foothold into Spain. It is named after Guzmán el Bueno (the Good), Tarifa's infamous commander during the Moorish siege of 1292, who earned his tag for a superlative piece of tragic drama. Guzmán's nine-year-old son had been taken hostage by a Spanish traitor and surrender of the garrison was demanded as the price of the boy's life. Choosing "honour without a son, to a son with dishonour", Guzmán threw down his own dagger for the execution. The story - a famous piece of heroic resistance in Spain - had echoes in the Civil War siege of the Alcázar at Toledo, when the Nationalist commander refused similar threats, an echo much exploited for propaganda purposes.
A new attraction in Tarifa is popular whale and dolphin spotting excursions to the Strait of Gibraltar which leave daily from the harbour. The trip is a fairly steep(reductions for under 14s), but this includes another trip free of charge if there are no sightings. Places must be booked in advance from either of two non-profit-making organizations: Whale Watch, Café Continental , Paseo de la Alameda ( tel 956 684 776 ), or FIRMM (Foundation for Information and Research on Marine Mammals; tel & fax 956 627 008, or mobile tel 919 459 441) at Calle Pedro Cortés 3, slightly west of the church of San Mateo, off Calle El Bravo.
The turismo ( Mon-Fri 10am-2pm & 6-8pm; tel 956 680 993 ) on the central Paseo la Alameda can help with maps and accommodation. Tarifa has plenty of places to stay , though finding a bed in summer can be a struggle, with crowds of windsurfers packing out every available hostal .
On the main Algeciras-Cádiz road ( Calle Batalla del Salado ) you'll find the bus station , a supermarket, many of the larger hotels and, further out of town, plenty of campsites . The same street also has the enterprising Aky Oaky at no. 37 ( tel 956 680 993 ) who hire out mountain bikes , organize horse treks and run visits to local ganaderías ( breeding ranches ) to see toros bravos (fighting bulls).
For meals , the restaurant of the Hostal Villanueva specializing in urta ( Cádiz sea bream ) is a good bet, as is the pricier Restaurante Alameda , Paseo Alameda 4, near the turismo, which does a variety of platos combinados and has a pleasant terrace. Of the dozen or so bars dotted around the centre, the German-run Bistro Point is a windsurfers' hang-out and a good place for finding long-term accommodation as well as secondhand windsurfing gear. Bar Morilla , facing San Mateo's main entrance, is a favourite meeting place with locals and a good tapas stop. Bar El trato , Calle Sancho El Bravo IV - 28, doubles as Tarifa's internet centre where you can pick up your emails over a beer.
