Matalascañas

Matalascañas
Top left:Gulf of Cadiz and Matalascañas Beach, view from Nutria area, Top right:Rock of Higuera (Torre de la Higuera), Bottom left:Matalascañas Lighthouse, Bottom right:View of Palmito area in Matalascañas Beach
Location of Huelva
Matalascañas Location in Andalusia
Coordinates: 36°59′36″N 06°32′36″W
Country	Spain
Autonomous community	Andalusia
Province	Huelva
Comarca	Condado
Municipality	Almonte
Elevation	20 m (70 ft)
Population  (2023)
• Total	2,886
Demonym(s)	Almonteño/a, Torrehiguerense.
Time zone	UTC+1 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+2 (CEST)
Postal code	21760
Dialing code	959

Matalascañas (Spanish pronunciation: [matalas'kaɲas]; local dialect: [matalaʰ'kaɲa]) is the name of an Atlantic beach and resort within the Municipality of Almonte, in southwestern Spain. It is known for having an ancient upside down tower on the sand called Torre de la Higuera, one of the seven defensive towers built by Phillip II in the 16th century to protect the coast from incursions by Turkish and North African corsairs and which is protected as a Cultural Interest Asset by the government. This beach is part of the coast of Almonte, which is the longest beach in Spain, being around 30 miles long (53km) and including several other landmarks like Torre del Loro’s Beach, Cuesta Maneli Beach and the virgin beaches of the Doñana National Park, ending at river Guadalquivir. This locale was still called by the tower's name until the 1970s. Matalascañas is surrounded by the Doñana National Park and was segregated from it in 1969 to allow the development of a beach-side tourist village. The mild Mediterranean climate, fine golden sand of the beachfront, mobile dunes and clean water attract tourists throughout the year and the summer nightlife is attractive to young people. Officially established in 1972, its population goes into orbit during the summer, due to its proximity to Seville and being a holiday destination for neighbouring towns and a final residence for retired people. It’s been holding the title of Blue flag beach for decades.

History

Almonte purchased the eastern Atlantic coast of Huelva in 1583, several centuries before the Doñana National Park was established. Local farming and fishing business then started in the area.In 1924, German archaeologist Adolf Schulten visited the area in his quest to find Atlantis and, despite finally giving up, he came across several Roman ruins, including a garum factory from the 3th century AD. It’s an evidence of the fishing industry in the area back then. During the 40s, eucalyptus were planted as part of the wood and paper industry plan and many river courses were altered. The 2nd Marquis of Bonanza sold a great part of this area to businessman Salvador Noguera and to the 3rd Marquis of Mérito.By 1962, they had founded the company Coto de Doñana, S.A., which sold a 7-kilometer long strip of coast (4.35 miles) to company Hirta, S.A., both involved in the winegrowing industry of Jerez de la Frontera.

By the mid 60s, several fishing huts had been installed along the coast, nearby the ruins of the tower, most of them made of bulrush, a traditional material in the areaRoad A-483 was finished by 1965 and would become later a turn-off of the popular motorway A-49 to connect Almonte to Huelva and Seville. In 1966 a new project to urbanise the coast, which was declared National Touristic Centre two years later.The National Park was established in 1969, delimiting the area available for the future resort.

The first brick was laid that same year and El Delfín (The Dolphin) was the first luxury building in the area, with private investment from estate agency Costa de la Luz and company Playas del Coto de Doñana, S.A.. A year later the first parish, the Flamero hotel and La Prensa, another residential building, were opened. In a few years, private investment skyrocketed beyond €9 million (a quantity unheard of at the time). Phone wires between Almonte and the new coastal resort were installed and the works on highway A-49 were speeded up to connect to local road A-483 and establish a faster way from Seville.

By the summer of 1971, Matalascañas had already become a national touristic destination, holding music festivals and all kind of contests (photography, literature, beauty, sailing and fishing) soon became usual, even attracting celebrities and socialites, including the royal family.Both its unique climate and its status as a resort embedded within Europe’s greatest natural reserve, soon made international tourism turn up and Hollywood took notice of the unique landscapes to start shooting several films, like The Wind and the Lion

Two years later, an average of 180,000 tourists were visiting Matalascañas in the summer, many of them affluent foreigners and socialites, with charter flights and horse carriages becoming a matter of course in those days.That same year the first fishing club opened, later becoming the Nautical and Fishing Club of Matalascañas and international stars such as Julio Iglesias performed in town. This glamorous exclusivity and unrestrained joy would soon come to an end when the council of Almonte, along with the regional and national government pushed legislation to take over the urban impact on the national park in 1988.

In 1990, the works for the biggest hotel in Almonte began, an imposing L-shaped building called Gran Hotel El Coto, just at the very end of the urban area, limiting with the national park. In 1993 Matalascañas was awarded its first Blue Flag, in recognition of its quality and eco-friendly services.In 1998, the works for the first green golf course in Europe began, finishing two years later. With 18 holes and 290,000m², the golf course opened in year 2000 and caused great expectations.

In 2002, around 130 hectares of the coast east from the urban area were protected under a special status, becoming the Parque Dunar (Dune park). Its name refers to the high fossil dunes formed all along the coast of Almonte and far beyond the ruins of the Torre del Oro (Gold River Tower). A 100-meter high dune cliff can be found at El Asperillo, being the highest dune cliff in Europe, declared a Natural Monument of Andalusia.With an investment of more than €20 million, the Parque Dunar became a walkable attraction in which several important landmarks were installed, such as the sea museum Museo del Mundo Marino, a research centre, a horse riding club, a camel riding club, a beach restaurant, a nautical club, a lighthouse and several other buildings.

In 2021, several tracks belonging to extinct ungulate animals and neanderthal humans were found on the clay substratum that got uncovered during the low tide at the shore.They date back from 100,000 BC. The evironmental association from the Parque Dunar organises free guided tours that include historical and geological commentaries and a voluntary litter collection.A recent research published by Quaternary Science Reviews and carried out by the University of Huelva confirmed that the humanoid footprints belong to Neanderthals.

Matalascañas still remains as an international holiday paradise with a local population of around 3,000 people, which boosts up to roughly 150,000 people during the summer. It currently offers around 100 restaurants, 10 hotels, 7 lifeguard stations, 9 public restrooms, public bus lines, taxi lines and touristic local trains. It’s been awarded blue flags and Q and SICTED certificates for touristic quality

Physical location

Urban resort

District K, surrounded by the Golf Course.

The town of Matalascañas is a 4-km long strip along the coast of Almonte, halfway between the ruins of Torre del Oro and river Guadalquivir. It is one kilometer wide and is delimited from the Doñana National Park by the fenced north road which stretches the whole strip from east to west. That north road starts with a big roundabout decorated with trees, deer sculptures and the name of the town and provides access to the different districts (in Spanish, sectores) through 8 different roundabouts, all of them with a monument on top representing different local and regional customs. These are, from west to east: the Earth, the Dolmens, the Ship, the Dolphins, the Windows, the Tower and the Winery. There’s a main avenue with wide pavements and many businesses from the main roundabout towards the ruins of Torre de la Higuera called Avenida de las Adelfas (oleander avenue). The town is separated from the shore by a 2.5-mile pedestrian promenade (4km long).

The town is divided into 27 districts named after different local terms related to nature and arranged alphabetically from 'A' to 'T'. 6 of these districts, namely K, O, P, Q, R and S make up the popular area known as Caño Guerrero (warrior stream), which has the highest population density and most businesses. The eastern area of town, built more recently, is organised in seven different districts named from “a” to “g” (in lower case, to tell them apart from the capital letter ones). Here are the different districts with detailed information:

• Parque Dunar – as mentioned before, it’s a protected exurban area west from town where many different touristic and environmental buildings can be found, including the tourist office, the museum, the research centre, the cultural centre Balcón del Atlántico, the lighthouse, the horse riding club “El Pasodoble”, the camel riding club “Aires Africanos”, the Civil Guard headquarters, a gym, several restaurants and the bus station.
• District A - Ánade Real (mallard)- Commonly referred to as “El Centro” (the centre), it’s the most popular and one of the busiest neighbourhoods, known for its nightlife. It’s full of disco pubs, restaurants, shops, etc. The main square and the Parish of San Francisco de Asís are also found in this district.
• District B - Brazo de la Torre (tower cape) - This is a residential neighbourhood in which the oldest building in town (El Delfín) can be found.
• District C – Cerceta (teal)- Located on the beachfront, this is also a residential area which includes the popular building “El Sancho”, many beach restaurants and several pricey houses.
• District D - Dehesa de las Marismas (marsh meadows) – A very touristic district, it includes the outdoor cinema “Doñana”, one of the main supermarkets, two popular hotels (Flamero and ON Village” along with popular restaurant “Titanic”.
• District E – Enea (bulrush)– It has one of the three main avenues in town, with the popular roundabout of Goya and the picturesque hotel Cortijo.
• District F – Flamenco (flamingo) – This district is mainly residential.
• District G – Gallareta (waterhen)– This is a residential district in the northern part of town which has a skatepark, two wide public squares and a basket court.
• District H - Halcón Peregrino (peregrine falcon) - The post office and the popular building La Prensa are located here.
• District I – Inglesillo (little Englishman) - This is the first distric found at the entrance of town and has public school El Zampullín and several hotels.
• District J - Golf Course – it’s a 290,000 m² golf course with 18 holes opened in 2000.
• District K – Junco (rush) – This is a residential distric completely surrounded by the golf course, except for a two-way access street in the eastern part which merges into district O.
• District L - Laguna del Sopetón (soup lake) - this district is located west from the golf course and includes the police and local government headquarters, the main school Dunas de Doñana, the main sport centre, a karting circuit and two popular hotels (ON: The Residence and Carabela).
• District M – Malvasía (white-headed duck) – It’s a beachfront distric with famous hotel “ON: Oceanfront” (which includes both a japanese and a mexican restaurant).
• District N – Nutria (otter) – A monumental beachfront distric colindante which includes the emblematic pedestrian street Calle Azul (blue street), which ends at the Sun roundabout. The lifeguard headquarters, the popular restaurant “El Pato”, popular green residential building “Atlántico“ and the exclusive neighbourhood “Kabila I“.
• District O – Ostrero (oystercatcher) – It’s one of the districts within the “Caño Guerrero” area, containing the access to district K and to the golf course, next to hotel “Dunas de Doñana Golf Resort”.
• District P – Palmito (heart of palm)- This district is the “heart” of Caño Guerrero and the busiest area of town. Full of tall buildings, it includes many shops, restaurants and emblematic monuments, such as the fountain roundabaout, the clam fisher roundabout, a replica of the Sea Gate of Almonte and the Neptuno Square.
• District Q – Quercus (oak)– This is a small northern residential neughbourhood.
• District R – Retama (rotem) – This T-shaped residential neighbourhood still has some non-urban areas, for it’s next to the end of town, close to the national park.
• Distric S - Somormujo (great crested grebe) - it has the well-known arena Surfasaurus, which has hosted all kind of events and summer concerts, including Julio Iglesias. It also has an industrial state with several workshops and supermarkets and the Victoria Park.
• Distric T - Torre Zalabar (Zalabar Tower) – It’s a popular beachfront district which includes the exclusive neighbourhood Pueblo Andaluz and a circular water tank decorated as a bull ring, with several bull sculptures next to it. It’s named after one of the 16th-century watchtowers found all along the coast.
• District a – Aulaga (scorpion broom) – small residential neighbourhood which is only partially urbanised and next to the national park.
• District b – Boliche (burnt mound) – residential neighbourhood exclusively consisting of gardened detached houses.
• Distric c - Calamón (swamphen)- It’s the last district at the end of town, in its southeastern area, limiting with the national park. Expensive beachfront detached houses can be found here, along with some beach restaurants and fishermen huts.
• Distric d - Dunas (dunes) - It’s the easternmost district at the end of the urban area and includes the biggest hotel in town (Gran Hotel El Coto). It also has a 19,000m²park with green zones, sand and a child playground. One of the main gates to access the national park is also in this district.
• District e - Eucalipto (eucalyptus) - it’s next to district “b” and includes the popular Red Buildings, a recycling centre and an upcoming hotel.
• District f - Fumarel black tern – Easternmost district up north of town, limiting with the national park and virtually wild.
• District g - Garza Imperial (purple heron)– Half-urbanised district containing one of the biggest and most groundbreaking hotel complexes in Southern Spain, “ON City Resort”. This huge hotel includes around 70 single apartments with a picturesque style which combines ibizan architecture with the typical color apartments and palm streets that remind of Venice Beach. The complex also contains a huge water park inside.

Map of Matalascañas:

Transport

Its unique location inside the Doñana National Park, the biggest natural reserve in Europe, has limited the urban expansion of the resort, as well as the different ways of access. There are three main ways to reach the town:

Road A-483

This road goes up north and connects to the main town of Almonte, first bypassing the worldwide-known village of El Rocío (a stretch in which it becomes a highway) and eventually merging into A-49, one the main highways that connects Spain to Portugal. This road also provides access to headquarters of the local agricultural companies and industrial estate Matalagrana, one of the main ones in southwestern Spain. It’s also used to get to the neoclassical Palace of El Acebrón.

Road A-494

It goes west parallel to the coast and connects to Huelva. There’s a 18-mile cycle lane parallel to this road that connects to neighbour town of Mazagón, allowing pedestrian access to different landmarks of the coast of Almonte, like Heidy Beach (a dog friendly beach), Cuesta Maneli Beach, Torre del Oro Beach and the rocket launching platform Campo de Tiro del Médano del Oro.

Ferry

There’s also a regular ferry line that crosses river Guadalquivir, from Almonte to Cádiz. It sets sail from El Poblado de la Plancha and arrives at Sanlúcar de Barrameda. Private sailing is also available from the 4 different nautical clubs in town.

External links

• Coping with Tourists: European Reactions to Mass Tourism