Читать книгу Coastal Walks in Andalucia. The best hiking trails close to Andalucía's Mediterranean and Atlantic Coastlines онлайн

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What goes to make such openness of character is inextricably linked to the region’s history and its geographical position at the extreme south of Europe, looking east to Europe, west to the Atlantic and with just a short stretch of water separating its southernmost tip from Africa. This is a land at the crossroads between two continents, at the same time part of one of the richest spheres of trade the world has ever known: the Mediterranean Basin. Visitors from faraway places are nothing new!

Roman ruins on the Atlantic Coast near Tarifa

A thousand years before Christ, the minerals and rich agricultural lands of Andalucía had already attracted the interest of the Phoenicians, who established trading posts in Málaga and Cádiz. But it was under the Romans, who ruled Spain from the 3rd century BC to the 5th century AD, that the region began to take on its present-day character. They established copper and silver mines, planted olives and vines, cleared land for agriculture and built towns, roads, aqueducts, bridges, theatres and baths while imposing their native language and customs. Incursions by Vandals and then Visigoths ended their rule, but its legacy was to be both rich and enduring.