The Bay of Cadiz is an 11-kilometer-long inlet off the Gulf of Cadiz on Spain’s southwestern Atlantic coast. About 90 kilometers northwest of Gibraltar, it is home to several ports, chief among them the Port of the Bay of Cadiz. The Port of the Bay of Cadiz is an important commercial center for the agricultural and fishing region as well as an important support for the oil and gas industry and the jointly-owned Spanish-US naval and air base at nearby Rota.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz is the capital of Cadiz Province in Andalusia. Located on a long narrow peninsula that protects the Bay of Cadiz, the the Port of the Bay of Cadiz’s primary economic activity revolves around its port and ship-building yards. It supports several industries on the mainland, including food processing and metal works, and offshore fishing. The Port of the Bay of Cadiz exports sherry, salted fish, salt, cork, figs, and olives from the region and imports timber, cereals, machinery, coal and iron, coffee, and foodstuffs. Passenger traffic is important to the port, with travelers going mainly to the Canary Islands. In 2007, over 128 thousand people lived in the Port of the Bay of Cadiz.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz stands on the site of Western Europe’s oldest city. Although there is no archaeological evidence to support the claim, historians believe the Phoenicians founded the original Port of the Bay of Cadiz, Gadir, around 1104 BC to support their trade. Greek legend says that Hercules founded Gadira after finishing his tenth labor, the killing of Geryon. It is believed that a Phoenician temple once stood there that was the origin of the Pillars of Hercules myth.

In about 500 BC, Carthage ruled the Port of the Bay of Cadiz. The Port of the Bay of Cadiz was a base for Hannibal’s defeat of south Iberia. In 206 BC, Rome conquered the Port of the Bay of Cadiz, renaming the Greek city Gades and making it a naval base. Over 500 Roman patricians lived in the Port of the Bay of Cadiz, making it one of the most important of Rome’s colonies. As the Roman Empire declined, so did the fortunes of Gades. In the 5th Century BC, Visigoths destroyed the original Port of the Bay of Cadiz, and there are few remains left to testify to that city.

Moors ruled the Port of the Bay of Cadiz from 711 to 1262 AD, calling it Qadis. They were driven out by Alfonso X of Castile. The Port of the Bay of Cadiz underwent a renaissance during Spain’s Age of Exploration. It was the port from which Christopher Columbus said on two of his later voyages, and it was the home port of Spain’s treasure fleet.

In the 16th Century, Barbary pirates attempted to raid the Port of the Bay of Cadiz. In 1587, Sir Francis Drake took the Port of the Bay of Cadiz for three days, destroying 31 and taking six ships. His attack delayed for a year the departure of the Spanish Armada. In 1596, British lords again attacked the Port of the Bay of Cadiz but could not hold it. During the Anglo-Spanish War, the port was blockaded for two years. The British failed in a 1702 attempt to take the Port of the Bay of Cadiz.

During the 18th Century, Spain’s trade with the Americas was transferred from Seville to the Port of the Bay of Cadiz, bringing an age of prosperity when the port handled 75% of Spain’s trade with the New World. This trade transformed the town into a cosmopolitan city where foreign trade communities grew up. Much of the Port of the Bay of Cadiz’s historic property comes from this era.

By the end of the 18th Century, the Port of the Bay of Cadiz was under frequent attack by the British. A year-long siege and blockade failed, but it cost the Port of the Bay of Cadiz dearly. In 1800, Admiral Nelson bombed the city. The Port of the Bay of Cadiz was one of few Spanish cities that resisted Napoleon in his conquest of Europe. The Irish merchant community living in the Port of the Bay of Cadiz grew rich on colonial trade in the late 18th Century. The trade connection remains active today.

The Spanish Constitution of 1812 was released in the Port of the Bay of Cadiz, and the 1810 revolution to restore the constitution began there. It was the seat of the 1868 revolution that ended in the abdication of Queen Isabella II, though the monarchy was restored two years later.

In the last few decades, the Port of the Bay of Cadiz has undertaken reconstruction and restoration efforts that have brought back much of the Port of the Bay of Cadiz’s ancient appeal.

The Cadiz Bay Port Authority (APBC) is an independent state-owned body responsible for developing, operating, maintaining, and marketing the Port of the Bay of Cadiz. The port is an important trade center between the European Union and North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the eastern United States.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz includes the Cadiz Basin with 70 hectares of land area and 224 hectares of sheltered water surface. It serves fishing, sailing, commercial, and passenger traffic and includes ship repair facilities. Within the Cadiz Basin, the Reina Victoria Quay, at 220 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters, serves general goods and passengers. It also contains a warehouse zone of 3.5 thousand square meters. The City Quay is used for roll-on/roll-off traffic and is 316 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters. It includes a warehouse zone of almost 13 thousand square meters.

The Marques de Comillas Quay, at 490 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters, serves cruisers and general cargoes and has two ramps for roll-on/roll-off traffic. It also contains a warehouse zone of 4.4 thousand square meters. The Reina Sofia Quay is 600 meters long with alongside depth of from 12 to 13 meters. It supports container and cruiser traffic and contains over 137 thousand square meters of warehouse.

The Alfonso XIII Quay, at 324 meters long with alongside depth of 10 meters, serves passengers and roll-on/roll-off cargoes. Its warehouse zone covers 2.4 thousand square meters, and it includes a warehouse of five thousand square meters.

The Fishing Port contains 1.4 thousand meters of wharf with alongside depth of 6 meters. One hundred sixty-seven meters of wharf are used for unloading and selling fish cargoes, and over 1.2 thousand meters are used for supplying, berthing, and repairing fishing vessels. The Nautical-Sports Basin contains Puerto America (with 152 mooring points) and the Nautical Club (with 179 mooring points), both with a depth of 6 meters.

The Gral. Fdez. Ladreda Quay within the Cadiz Basin operates exporting warehouses of over 13.5 thousand square meters. It also contains storage for over seven thousand cubic meters of refrigerated cargo. The De Levante Quay operates over 11.5 square meters of ship-owner warehousing and more than 46 thousand square meters of warehouse zone. It contains cold storage for almost five thousand cubic meters of refrigerated cargoes. The Port of the Bay of Cadiz’ De Levante Quay also has capacity to store 200 tons of diary products.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz contains a Free Zone Basin covering 8 hectares of land and 4.3 hectares of sheltered water surface. Containing three quays, it serves commercial and sailing vessels. The Poniente Quay, at 325 meters long with alongside depth of 9.5 meters, serves dry and liquid bulk cargoes. It contains a warehouse zone of 11.5 thousand square meters and warehouses covering over five thousand square meters. The Ribera Quay is 320 meters long with alongside depth of 9.5 meters, and it supports dry and liquid bulk and roll-on/roll-off cargoes. It contains over 49 thousand square meters of warehouse zone. The Juan Sebastian Elcano Quay is home to a municipal sailing school.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz’ Cabezuela-Puerto Real Quay covers 100 hectares of land area. It is a commercial industrial area serving off-shire factories and ship-building facilities. The North Quay is 612 meters long with alongside depth of 14 meters, and it supports the movement of dry bulk and general cargoes. The South Quay is 481 meters long with alongside depth of 14 meters. It supports handling of roll-on/roll-off and dry bulk cargoes. The Cabezuela Quay contains almost 300 thousand square meters of warehouse zone and 74.9 thousand square meters of specialized facilities, including the 2.2 thousand square meters APBC warehouse.

The Puerto Santa Maria area covers 595 hectares of land area and 92 hectares of water surface. It contains three quays supporting commercial traffic, fishing, and sailing. The Exterior Quay is 774 meters long with alongside depth of 5 meters. It handles dry and liquid bulk and roll-on/roll-off cargoes and cement and floors. The Exterior Quay includes over 38 thousand square meters of warehouse zone and 10.9 thousand square meters of warehouse space.

The Fishing Port Quay is 1.15 meters long with alongside depth of 4.5 meters. It serves fishing vessels and a fishing market. The Fishing Quay contains 97.3 thousand square meters of warehouse zone, 190 thousands square meters of warehouses, and 1.5 million square meters dedicated to facilities like an ice factory, cafeteria, and the fish market. The Sports Quays include Puerto Sherry, with 700 mooring points, and the Nautical Port, with 164 mooring points.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz includes the Puerto Sherry Basin, used for sailing and recreational vessels. It covers more than 15 thousand hectares of land area and 13.5 hectares of sheltered water surface. The basin contains 780 mooring points, and the dry marina contains shelves for 500 vessels. The Puerto Sherry Basin contains firefighting and rescue services, gas and oil, and a 4-star hotel. It is the site for boat races, fishing contests, sailing lessons, sports marine courses, and a diving school.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz’ Passenger Terminal at the Alfonso XIII Quay in the Cadiz Basin covers a total of over 3.4 thousand square meters, and it contains a restaurant and passenger services. In 2007, over 500 thousand passengers visited the Port of the Bay of Cadiz on almost 35 thousand vessel trips.

In 2007, almost two thousand vessels carried more than 24 million gross tons of cargo through the Port of the Bay of Cadiz, including 78 thousand tons of liquid bulk, over four million tons of dry bulk, and 2.6 million tons of general cargo. Of this, almost 5.3 million tons was foreign trade. Dry bulk cargoes were dominated by cement (more than 2.6 million tons). Other significant dry bulks included cereals, flours, and beans. General cargoes handled in the Port of the Bay of Cadiz included significant volumes of chemical products, food products, olives, and luggage as well as a wide range of other goods including construction materials, machinery, iron and steel products, wines and spirits, and olive oil. In 2007, container traffic included over 143 thousand TEUs and more than 1.3 million tons of containerized cargo. Container cargoes were dominated by stockbreeding and food products (460 thousand tons).

Being the oldest city in western Europe, the Port of the Bay of Cadiz contains some wonderful historical sights that visitors will not want to miss. The City of Cadiz is full of archaeological remnants. The Archaeological Museum (Plaza de Mina) contains many fascinating exhibits, including two stone Phoenician sarcophagi. You can still see parts of the large stone walls and forts that protected the town against British attacks at the end of the 16th Century, and tourists can explore the forts of Santa Catalina and San Sebastian.

Near the Port of the Bay of Cadiz’ central market, the Torre Tavira contains towers where merchants once watched for ships from the Americas. Today, it affords wonderful views of old town.

The Port of the Bay of Cadiz’ Carnaval (Spanish) is reputed to be one of Spain’s best, and it is certainly one Spain’s oldest. The third biggest Carnaval in the world, the streets are crowded with people in costumes dancing, singing, and celebrating life. And you never know who you’ll run into during Carnaval – jet-setters, even members of Spain’s royal family.

The Museo de la Cortes de Cadiz tells the story of the Port of the Bay of Cadiz’s history in the 18th and 19th Centuries. It also contains a wood and ivory scale model of the 18th Century city. The Museo de Cadiz: Archaeology, Arts, and Ethnography contains, in addition to the Phoenician coffins, relics from Phoenician and Roman times as well as works by important Spanish painters and an exhibit dedicated to marionettes. The 16th Century Cathedral Museum and Archives, next to the ancient Roman Theater, contains wonderful examples of sacred jewelry and paintings.

The Roman Theater was built in the 1st Century, and some of its materials have been used to build the medieval buildings that surround it. Today, part of the site is open to the public. Also built in the 1st Century, the Roman Salt Meat Factory was opened in 1995 for tours and declared an important cultural site in 1998. The Roman Columbarios are the remains of the necropolis (Spanish) of Roman Cadiz. They include crematoria and tombs of the Roman city Gades.

With many kilometers of clean, wide beaches, the Port of the Bay of Cadiz is a paradise for sun-lovers. The Creek is a 450-meter urban beach with rescue and first aid stations. The beach called Santa Maria of the Sea, 400 meters long, is the northernmost public beach in the Port of the Bay of Cadiz, and it runs along the oldest sections. The Victory beach is about 3 kilometers long and is lined with a promenade, hotels, bars, and restaurants. The Victory Beach is considered one of the best beaches in southern Europe, and it has been recognized for efforts to keep it clean and safe. The Cortadura-Torregorda beach is about 3.9 thousand meters long, and it contains wide, dry sands formed by small dunes. The most natural of the Port of the Bay of Cadiz’ beaches, it lies between the other public beaches.

Travelers who want to visit the Port of the Bay of Cadiz by sea can find a list of scheduled cruises on the Cruise Compete website.