jetjunkies

April 2, 2026

An early morning wake up to catch a small tour bus of about 20 people to the white towns of Vejer and Conil. These towns were painted white to help reflect the intense summer sun.

Our first stop, Vejer is only about 14 miles from Cádiz. So happy we got plenty of practice climbing steep streets in Granada. The town of Vejer de la Frontera occupies a hill overlooking the Straits of Gibraltar and is surrounded by orchards and orange groves (wiki).

The old city wall that protected the Jewish quarter had a gate (Puerta Cerrada, 10th-12th centuries) that was closed to help fend off Barbary Coast pirates or corsairs, which were Muslims from Northern Africa. There seems to be a discrepancy as the Barbary Coast pirates didn’t start plying the waters until the 1600’s.

The town was under Moorish rule from 711 to 1248 when the area was captured by Saint Ferdinand of Castile.

The patio has a singing canary that was singing its little heart out. A very beautiful and tranquil space.

Onward to the cathedral that was damaged in the 1755 earthquake that leveled much of Lisbon.

The area is also known for breeding bulls for the bullring and there is an annual run of the bull.

Our little group was about half English speakers and half Spanish speakers, so we kept poor Rafael on his toes, explaining in one language and then the other.

Conil

What was supposed to be a 4 1/2 to 6 hour tour ended up being 7 hours after all the pickups and drop offs. Conil was an eating, shopping opportunity with a whole hour of free time. The same people were always late back to the bus. Reminded me of the people on cruise ships that you can watch running down the dock so they don’t miss the ship.

Conil de la Frontera and the surrounding area is known for the large red tuna that are caught off the coast of light. Fishing for red tuna (blue tuna to most of the world) takes place in May after the full moon.

Almadraba is an ancient method of catching the Blue Fin Tuna. A complex system of weighted nets is set up to catch the tuna during their migration. The nets have large openings that allow the smaller tuna to continue through. The large tuna can weigh 500 kilos or the size of a small whale. The fishing method was devised thousands of years ago by the Phoenicians.

Tomorrow we are heading to Roman ruins near Tarifa, further South from Vejer and Conil. Friday afternoon we will be training to Cordoba, so lots to share in coming days.