Camino del Estrecho (in reverse) - December '23

Hello everyone, I have just returned from a three-week hike on Andalusian caminos. I spent a week at the end of November/beginning of December walking the Camino del Estrecho - in reverse.

My stages were as follows:

1: Puerto Real - Medina-Sidonia (31,5 km), pictured above
2: Medina-Sidonia - Benalup-Casas Viejas (20,0 km)
3: Benalup-Casa Viejas – Tahivilla (25,7 km)
4: Tahivilla – Bolonia (17,9 km)
5: Bolonia – Tarifa (19,3 km)
6: Tarifa – Algeciras (32,0 km)

For good reason, these are almost exactly the recommended stages of this Camino, because there are hardly any other places along the way and often no catering facilities. I only swapped El Lentiscal for Bolonia, which is next to it, because there was no overnight accommodation in El Lentiscal. This route is rarely travelled and, with the exception of Tahivilla, there are no albergues, so I booked hotels a few weeks in advance. In Tahivilla, it is enough to call the albergue (+34 620 60 20 35) two days in advance so that they are prepared.

I had no problems finding accommodation via booking.com, but sometimes there was only one choice. So this is not a Camino you should walk spontaneously without preparation.

My accommodation choices:

• Medina-Sidonia, Hotel Tugasa Casa Palacio, 38 euros,
• Benalup-Casas Viejas, Suites Benalup Centro, 58 euros
• Tahivilla, Albergue (donativo), I put 10 euros in the letterbox
• Bolonia, Hotel Bellavista, 45 euros
• Tarifa, Alameda Hostal Boutique, 58 euros
• Algeciras, Hotel Mir-Ocatvio, 49 euros, conveniently located next to the train station

I had everything weather-wise, cloudy grey weather on the first day, pouring rain at times on days 2 and 3 and then beautiful sunshine with more than 20 degrees on the other stages along the sea. I walked this route in reverse order because I liked the idea of walking towards the sea and not away from it. As the sun rises at 8am and sets at 6pm in winter, I had a maximum of ten hours for each stage. I hate walking in the dark. As the two longest stages were 30+ kilometres long, I started early each time and arrived just in time before dusk.

The Camino del Estrecho is a varied route. My first day started flat in the alluvial plain of Puerto Real. I had spent the night in Cádiz and had travelled to Puerto Real by train in the morning. The first day runs through gently undulating countryside through woods and fields and has an unexpectedly steep climb to Medina Sidonia at the end. Days 2 and 3 are more monotonous and have long stretches through fields where the landscape hardly changes and you only see cows. One section on the way to Tahivilla is particularly monotonous, 6 kilometres dead straight along a canal. There I started counting electricity pylons and thinking about what I would do if I won the El Gordo Christmas lottery.

I particularly enjoyed day 4, as it took me through a wind farm over a range of hills to the sea. Bolonia is a typical summer holiday resort, so a lot of things are closed in winter (including the supermarkets, apparently!). The last two stages lead along the sea. On the way to Tarifa, I first walked through a forest and then down a huge dune and enjoyed a siesta on the beach. Tarifa seems quite lively even in winter, with many ferries to Morocco departing from here. One of my All-Camino highlights was the last stage, walking into the sunrise with a beautiful view of the African coast was something special. Again, there were no refreshment stops along the way, so I always had food with me. However, Algeciras is not a particularly beautiful place, I found it rather depressing.



In fact, I even met a pilgrim! But I only realised that later. On the stage to Tahivilla, when it was raining, a hiker with a rucksack and walking sticks came towards me behind a hilltop. He stared at me just as surprised as I did at him and we only exchanged a brief greeting. In the evening at the albergue in Tahivilla (you have to pick up the key from the bar opposite), there was a guest book in the room. According to it, I was the 21st pilgrim to spend the night there in 2023. The day before, a pilgrim from France had spent the night there and signed in - that must have been the pilgrim whose path I had crossed.

I walked the route with the help of wikiloc and the official files of the Asociación Gaditana Jacobea "Vía Augusta". These were very helpful, but I have a few remarks: The path on wikiloc does not start (end) in the centre of Puerto Real or at the train station, but far outside at a roundabout. This adds another 2 kilometer! I almost always followed the wikiloc files, but before Tahivilla I didn't want to take a pointless diversion through a wind farm and stayed on the rather annoying road. Then there is a closed gate of a private property just outside of Tarifa (but there is a detour). And in Algeciras I didn't understand why wikiloc took such strange detours and decided to walk directly to the railway station. A mistake, because Algeciras is situated on hills and so at the end of a tiring stage I had to complete several steep ascents and descents.

The route is certainly easier than the Via Serrana, which I walked last December. But probably more challenging than the flat Via Augusta, which I haven’t walked yet. I have not regretted my decision! I liked this Camino. From Algeciras, I took the train to Jimera de Líbar train to conquer a new Camino - the Camino de Fray Leopoldo, which is much more challenging! I will report on this in more detail in January. Thanks for reading and Merry Christmas everyone.

Madrood said:

How did you find the part between Tahivilla and Bolonia? From looking at google maps it seemed like the path would be overgrown after the windfarm.

Click to expand...

Not at all. After the windpark you cross a gate, then you follow the path around the hill and start the ascent. Its arduous but not overgrown. I met some guys riding mountain bikes. I attach some pics of this stage. On the other side of the ridge the path is wide and accessible by vehicles.





There are two dunes, one at Bolonia, which I saw from above and the one between Bolonia and Tarifa where the camino crosses (the camino follows the road, I took the shortcut over the dune down to the beach).

Yes, I read that you went a different way between Algeciras and Tarifa. However, the official one was fine with lots of breathtaking views (and no mean dogs here).

I think next will be either the Via Augusta, one part of the Mozarabe or another remote hardly known camino in Andalucia.