Tarifa

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 five smaller villages which depend economically on Tarifa. They are Tahivilla, Facinas, Bolonia and Zahara de los Atunes.

1 History
2 Name
3 Main sights
4 Cinema
5 Transportation
6 Climate
7 References
8 External links

History

During the Roman period, Tarifa was known as Julia Transducta (also known as Julia Joza, or just Transducta). Tarifa name was given after the attack of Tarif bib Malik in 710, a slave of Musa bin Nusayr, Pliny the Elder's Mellaria town probably is also Tarifa.^[1] The city was also known as the place where citizens of Zelis (near Tingis) resettled. The village of Bolonia near Tarifa was also populated in Roman times (called Baelo Claudia). Roman ruins still exist near the village today.

After the Islamic conquest of southern Spain, the city was fortified starting from the 10th century. Later Tarifa was held by the taifa of Algeciras (1031) and by that of Seville (1057), and subsequently by the Almoravids. After the latter's fall, it lived a short period under another taifa of Algeciras (1231), until becoming part of the Kingdom of Granada. In 1292 it was conquered by Sancho IV of Castile, and two years later it resisted a siege by North African Islamic troops. The town resisted another siege in 1340 from Moroccan troops, eventually leading to the Battle of Río Salado.

In 1514 it become the seat of marquisate including also Bornos, Espera and Alcalá de los Gazules. In the course of the Peninsular War, Tarifa was besieged by French troops on 20 December 1810, and again on 18 October 1811.

Name

Tarifa is sometimes credited with being the origin of the word "tariff, since it was the first port in history to charge merchants for the use of its docks, but other sources^[2] point to the Arabic word ta'rïf, as the origin. The name "Tarifa" itself is derived from the name of the Berber warrior, Tarif ibn Malik.

Main sights

Historical landmarks of the city include:

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.

Cinema

Tarifa is renowned for its African film Festival, whose first edition took place in 2004.

Transportation

There are regular ferry services between Tarifa and Tangier and bus services between Tarifa and Algeciras, about 20 km to the northeast, and Seville about 200 km to the north.

Climate

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.

Climate data for Tarifa
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Average high °C (°F)	15.3 (59.5)	15.2 (59.4)	16.1 (61.0)	17.0 (62.6)	18.7 (65.7)	21.0 (69.8)	23.2 (73.8)	23.8 (74.8)	22.6 (72.7)	20.2 (68.4)	17.9 (64.2)	16.3 (61.3)	19.0 (66.2)
Daily mean °C (°F)	13.4 (56.1)	13.4 (56.1)	14.3 (57.7)	15.1 (59.2)	16.9 (62.4)	19.2 (66.6)	21.4 (70.5)	22.0 (71.6)	20.9 (69.6)	18.6 (65.5)	16.1 (61.0)	14.5 (58.1)	17.1 (62.8)
Average low °C (°F)	11.4 (52.5)	11.5 (52.7)	12.4 (54.3)	13.2 (55.8)	15.1 (59.2)	17.5 (63.5)	19.5 (67.1)	20.1 (68.2)	19.2 (66.6)	16.9 (62.4)	14.4 (57.9)	12.7 (54.9)	15.3 (59.5)
Precipitation mm (inches)	83 (3.27)	73 (2.87)	60 (2.36)	61 (2.4)	31 (1.22)	9 (0.35)	2 (0.08)	4 (0.16)	14 (0.55)	67 (2.64)	77 (3.03)	118 (4.65)	603 (23.74)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	8	8	6	7	4	2	0	0	2	6	7	10	60
Sunshine hours	153	161	199	218	264	284	307	297	233	202	170	142	2,538
Source: Agencia Estatal de Meteorología^[3]

References

^ Naturalis Historia, 3,7
^ Chambers Dictionary of Etymology, New York, 1997, ISBN 0-550-14230-4
^ "Valores Climatológicos Normales. Cádiz - Tarifa". http://www.aemet.es/es/elclima/datosclimatologicos/valoresclimatologicos?l=6001&k=and.

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography

External links

Municipalities of the province of Cádiz