The Castillo de San Sebastián, a crumbling 18th-century fortress on the finish of a protracted causeway in Cádiz, Spain, was locked behind an iron gate. However on the June morning I visited, the tide was low, and I seen a few fishermen wading among the many rocks beneath the excessive stone partitions. I took off my sandals and walked alongside the bottom of the ramparts, making an attempt to not slip on the kelp. After about 10 minutes, I made it to the far finish of the fortress and rounded the nook. Seems, there’s a secret tidal seashore beneath the turrets with chic views of the Atlantic.

The seashore was empty apart from a younger surfer named Rafael, who was chilling within the solar. He requested me what I considered his hometown. I rhapsodized in regards to the fried shrimp tortillitas, the street-corner flamenco, the hidden surprises like this one. Rafael’s understanding smile made it clear that he had heard all of it earlier than. “For those who can’t be pleased in Cádiz,” he informed me, “the issue probably isn’t Cádiz.”

At a time when each pristine seashore and charming taverna in southern Europe appears to have been mapped out on social media, no excellent place stays actually undiscovered. However some gems are much less found than others. Regardless of its 3,000-year historical past, its wonderful setting on a peninsula within the southwest of the nation, and its heady focus of all issues Andalusian, Cádiz has but to be trampled by crowds. 

Inform others you’re heading there, and also you’ll probably get a quizzical squint, adopted by some questions: isn’t it form of close to Gibraltar, and a bit out of the best way? (Sure and sure; the closest airport is 28 miles away in Jerez de la Frontera, with no direct flights outdoors of Europe.) Those that have visited will let you know that Cádiz is understood for its port-city mystique and quick-witted locals. 

These days, the town (inhabitants 110,000) has began getting extra love from the surface world. New inns are addressing the long-standing lack of excellent lodging, and the harbor is now a busy cease for cruise ships certain for Lisbon and Málaga. Whereas the crowds swell in July and August, Cádiz manages to retain its seductive mixture of grandeur and grit year-round. 

Just a few blocks from the Castillo is a cluster of divey fish joints and bars, together with Taberna Casa Manteca, the place everybody orders and reorders chicharrones especiales (sliced pork stomach) doused with lemon and served on wax paper. Down the road are the ruins of the Teatro Romano, an amphitheater constructed round 100 B.C., when Cádiz was already an historical metropolis, having been based by the Phoenicians a full millennium earlier. 

The close by Mercado Central, the place I noticed a fishmonger hacking away at a 200-pound bluefin tuna, morphs right into a full of life meals court docket by lunchtime, with stalls that serve fresh-caught sashimi, vegan tapas, and native wines. Across the nook looms the Baroque-Neoclassical Cádiz Cathedral, a remnant of the town’s 18th-century golden period, when Cádiz was Spain’s predominant harbor and a gateway to the Americas. (On spiritual holidays you’ll see the enormous doorways swing open for somber processions led by burly males carrying statues of a crying Virgin Mary.) 

Past the sights, a key attraction is the famend humor of the Gaditanos, as the town’s inhabitants are known as. After I first learn that Cádiz had the funniest folks in Spain, I used to be uncertain. Can one city be intrinsically wittier than the subsequent city over? An investigation was so as. Each winter earlier than Lent, Cádiz holds a raucous 10-day carnival and avenue social gathering that spotlights comedy much more than music and dance. It kicks off with a satirical tune competitors within the ornate Gran Teatro Falla. And in case you chat with Gaditanos any time of yr, you’ll rapidly discover that many depend on wisecracks as their default mode of small discuss. 

On my first evening on the town, I finished at Taberna La Manzanilla, an alleyway bar that serves native sherries straight from the barrel. (Sherry is synonymous with close by Jerez and has been produced within the area for hundreds of years.) I discussed to the bartender that it was my first time making an attempt a dry Manzanilla. He glanced at my middle-aged face and stated, with a smile, “A bit late, no?” 

One other afternoon, over beers, I explored the finer factors of Cádiz humor with José Luis García Cossío, a carnival performer and author higher generally known as El Selu. He famous that Cádiz had lengthy been an financial underdog due to the decline of shipbuilding and different industries. “For years Cádiz has been cursed with few jobs and few sources,” he stated. “So why is everybody smiling?” He surmised that Gaditanos had elevated life’s humblest pleasures—cracking jokes, watching the solar set—to an artwork kind, as a result of these have usually been the one ones accessible. “Within the north of Europe—say in Germany—folks dwell in higher circumstances. However they don’t at all times dwell effectively.” 

Gaditanos, in fact, have their moodier and extra tempestuous sides—and an clever method of expressing them. Flamenco was born in southern Spain, and the scene in Cádiz is smaller and extra intimate than in larger cities like Seville, which is dominated by splashy, tourist-oriented performances. One weekend evening I visited Peña Flamenca Juan Villar, a windowless bar with a vaulted ceiling that gives dwell exhibits most Fridays. An viewers of about 75—who all gave the impression to be locals, besides for me and a Dutch couple—roared and cheered as a gifted dancer named David Nieto shook the stage in a whir of heel stomps, wrist flicks, and head snaps. 

“Flamenco is an artwork, however in larger cities they’ve found out methods to flip it right into a enterprise,” Nieto, who additionally runs a dance college in close by San Fernando, informed me later. “Right here, that hasn’t occurred but. The upside is that the essence of flamenco continues to be being preserved.”

After the present, I quickly discovered myself again on sand—this time on the moonlit Playa de la Caleta, a small seashore close to the town’s historic middle. Though Cádiz is technically a peninsula, related to the mainland by a skinny strip of sand, it appears like a small island, because you’re by no means various blocks from a seashore or a waterfront promenade. Crime is low, perhaps as a result of everybody appears to know everybody else’s mom. 

On one among my final mornings, I finished at a fruit stand to choose up a number of nectarines. When it was time to pay, I apologized to the cashier for having solely a 50-euro observe, since I’d come straight from the ATM. “You’re fortunate,” she stated. “My ATM offers me solely tens, and only a few of them.” As soon as she noticed that I bought the joke, she laughed, then handed me an additional piece of fruit free of charge. 

The place to Keep

Áurea Casa Palacio Sagasta: This newish resort within the outdated city is ready in a Baroque mansion that when housed the British embassy.

Casa Cánovas Boutique Hotel: Opened in 2022, this 10-room resort is within the historic middle, making it a greater base than the bigger inns close to the seashore.

Parador de Cádiz: A part of a state-run assortment of luxurious inns, this property has ocean views, a terrific pool, and trendy interiors.

The place to Eat and Drink

Balandro: With its clever takes on traditional Spanish dishes, this can be a stable selection for an indulgent three-hour lunch.

Café Royalty: A restored Belle Époque café, and a uncommon place for a quiet espresso. 

El Faro de Cádiz: One of many metropolis’s high seafood eating places, this beloved spot additionally has a bar that serves tapas and informal fare.

La Cepa Gallega: This old-school taberna serves a spread of sherries to a full of life crowd.

Listán Wine Tasca: A welcoming wine bar owned by a former sommelier who appears to know each obscure classic in Cádiz province.

Mercado Central: Seafood abounds at this historic market within the metropolis’s outdated city. 

Pub Alipama: A unusual bar within the metropolis middle with video games.

Taberna Casa Manteca: If the road is simply too lengthy at this Cádiz establishment, run by the descendants of a beloved bullfighter, you’ll be able to order a shrimp tortillita to go. 

Taberna La Manzanilla: Order a dry sherry at this traditional early-Twentieth-century tavern.

What to Do

Gran Teatro Falla: Throughout carnival time, tickets for this historic theater are laborious to snag. However performers roam the streets day and evening, so that you’ll see a present with out even making an attempt. 

La Perla de Cádiz: A cavernous flamenco corridor that hosts a few of Andalusia’s high performers. 

Peña Flamenca Juan Villar: Don’t go for the meals, go for the weekend flamenco exhibits at this no-frills joint.

A model of this story first appeared within the June 2025 situation of Journey + Leisure below the headline “Fiesta Perpetually.”