What's on in Costa de la Luz (Cádiz)

This is the Cádiz half of the Costa de la Luz, the "coast of light" — the Atlantic shore of Andalusia that British visitors tend to overlook in favour of the Mediterranean. It's a different sort of Spain: big, open beaches with real surf, white towns piled on hilltops, and the wind that draws kitesurfers from all over the world to Tarifa, the southernmost point of mainland Europe. Cádiz city is one of the oldest in the West, Vejer and Bolonia sit just inland, and the whole coast runs on sherry, tuna and a deep flamenco tradition.

The calendar reflects that flamenco soul. June and July bring the open-air flamenco festivals — La Isla Ciudad Flamenca on the Isla de San Fernando and free flamenco nights in Cádiz's Parque Genovés — alongside Sant Juan beach bonfires on 23 June. July centres on the sea: the Virgen del Carmen maritime procession carries the fishermen's patron out into the bay, and the almadraba tuna of Barbate and Zahara gets its own feria. Come September, the Real Feria de Tarifa honours the Virgen de la Luz with the full Andalusian fairground of horses, casetas and flamenco dress.

Fly into Jerez (XRY), the closest airport and the home of sherry, or into Seville (SVQ) a little further north for more flight choice. Both put you within easy reach of the coast, but a hire car is what really opens up this region — the white towns of the interior, the surf beaches strung between Tarifa and Conil, and the quiet coves the buses skip.

Whether you're in a Conil apartment, a Tarifa surf lodge or a townhouse in Vejer, this is your guide to what's actually on while you're here — the festivals worth planning around and the local ferias worth stumbling into.