A gastronomic tour of the Costa de la Luz
This elemental land of 'vivid, piercing' light has wonderful hiking and 'gastronomic riches'

Spain's Costa de la Luz, or Coast of Light, sweeps in a great arc from the Straits of Gibraltar up to the Portuguese border. It is an elemental land of "vivid, piercing" light, as its name suggests, but also "endless" dunes, "Wild West" horizons, and often relentless sea winds, says Lydia Bell in Condé Nast Traveller.
Inland, Moorish pueblos blancos "dust the hills like icing sugar", and vast wetlands, forested mountains and pristine river estuaries are protected in a series of glorious national parks. The hiking on offer is wonderful – and so too are the food and drink, from earthy meals prepared in village kitchens to Michelin-starred restaurants, all rooted in the region's distinctive produce.
There are gastronomic riches enough in the 60 miles between Cádiz and Tarifa, at Spain's southern tip – and among the best guides to them is the chef José Pizarro. Known in the UK for his seven restaurants and frequent appearances on the BBC's "Saturday Kitchen", Pizarro welcomes guests for three-night stays at his house, Iris Zahara, a "glassy modernist" villa perched on a sea cliff with fabulous views of the mountains of Morocco and the lights of Tangier, twinkling across the straits at night. There's cooking, as well as vineyard visits and a trip to the covered market in Barbate, for ingredients including bluefin tuna, harvested using the almadraba method – a system of nets developed by the Phoenicians three millennia ago.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
At Bodega Sancha Pérez, there are organic olives and wines (notably "sweet, tanniny" Tintilla de Rota) to sample, and, at Bodega Manuel Aragón, sherries ranging from "bone-dry to treacle-sweet". A hike around the peaks of Los Alcornocales with the "chatty" guide John Carlos Milburn Rodríguez takes you to the Antigua Venta de Ojén, a village house in whose "cosy" garden Luisa Martínez Ríos serves excellent rustic meals by special request. And back on the coast, there are other great restaurants to try, including the three-Michelin-starred Aponiente, and Casa Bigote, a "traditional gem".
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
France and Indonesia promote a contentious bid for an Israel-Palestine two-state solution
Talking Points Both countries have said a two-state solution is the way to end the Middle East conflict
-
Film reviews: Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Lilo & Stitch, and Final Destination: Bloodlines
Feature Tom Cruise risks life and limb to entertain us, a young girl befriends a destructive alien, and death stalks a family that resets fate's toll.
-
Music reviews: Morgan Wallen and Kali Uchis
Feature "I'm the Problem" and "Sincerely"
-
Film reviews: Mission: Impossible—The Final Reckoning, Lilo & Stitch, and Final Destination: Bloodlines
Feature Tom Cruise risks life and limb to entertain us, a young girl befriends a destructive alien, and death stalks a family that resets fate's toll.
-
Music reviews: Morgan Wallen and Kali Uchis
Feature "I'm the Problem" and "Sincerely"
-
Art review: Rashid Johnson: A Poem for Deep Thinkers
Feature Guggenheim New York, through Jan. 18
-
Book reviews: 'Melting Point: Family, Memory, and the Search for a Promised Land' and 'No More Tears: The Dark Secrets of Johnson & Johnson'
Feature A promised land in Texas and the takedown of a healthcare giant
-
The cinematic beauty of Sicily's Aeolian Islands
The Week Recommends These scattered islands have inspired film directors since the 1950s
-
6 lounge-ready homes with conversation pits
Feature Featuring a terrazzo-flanked pit in California and a fire-side pit in Nevada
-
Is a River Alive?: a 'powerful synthesis of literature, activism and ethics'
The Week Recommends Robert Macfarlane's latest book centres on his journeys to four river systems around the world
-
Good One: an 'intensely compelling' coming-of-age tale
The Week Recommends India Donaldson's 'quietly devastating' debut feature about a teenage girl's life-changing camping trip