Tarifa (Cadiz) Local Custom Tips by Bwana_Brown Top 5 Page for this destination

A goat herder by the pine forest

On the way out of Tarifa after our first night there, the first diversion we made was onto a small paved side road leading through a pine forest on the coastline. It so happened that one of the 'walking' sand dunes in this part of Spain had worked its way up the slope from the Atlantic Ocean and was threatening to take over both the road and the forest.

When we spotted this local goat herder with his flock, we just had to stop for a closer look at both the dunes and this man. Sue approached him and gestured that she would like to take his photograph - he nodded but indicated that he would like a cigarette in return. Unfortunately for him, neither of us smoke so he took her gestures at face value and allowed himself to be photographed. While Sue was speaking with him, she noticed that he had very piercing blue eyes (and I thought I had that department covered!), as well as a very calm demeaner. By the time their brief meeting was over, his goat herd with their tinkling bells had drifted off into the forest as they followed a stream. It took Sue quite some time to catch up to them as she listened to the sound of the bells (3rd photo) but she eventually re-appeared and we then continued our way up the coast toward Bolonia.

Christmas decorations

This was the first time that we experienced Christmas/New Year in a Spanish-speaking country and we noticed that the level of festivities seemed to be prolonged much further than the December 25th Christmas Day customs in english-speaking countries (Canada, England, Zambia and Papua New Guinea in our case). At several different locations in Spain, we noticed decorations such this one across the street from our Hostal Alborada in Tarifa, showing both Santa Claus and the Three Wise Men gaining access to someone's house (apparently one does not 'come down the chimney' there!).

It turns out that the end of Christmas in Spain is not celebrated until January 5, when a party is held and everyone exchanges gifts. This is tied in with the arrival of the Three Wise Men in the city where Jesus was born and then presenting the baby with gifts. In Spain, Santa takes second place to them in popularity. I was wondering why the festivities were still continuing while we were in Madrid almost a week later!