Conil de la Frontera

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About Conil

All the towns dotted along the Costa de la Luz, including Conil, have retained their original charm and character.  Building and development restrictions are enforced to help maintain the ‘untouched’ feel of the coast.  Many people believe this coast is one of Spain’s best-kept secrets, as it’s a world apart from the Costa del Sol’s mass tourism and over-development.  Outside of the summer months you can walk the length of one of Conil’s beaches and barely encounter a soul.  During the summer the town is popular with Spanish tourists and the ambience is lively yet pleasant.  You’ll be hard pushed to find any drunkenness and you definitely won’t see any signs for ‘Full English Breakfast!’  Instead you’ll find the Spanish meandering through the town, stopping for a tapas and a small beer, or poking around in one of the many small handicraft shops.  

Conil de la Frontera is a picturesque seaside town, located on the Costa de la Luz, in the province of Cadiz. Situated on the Atlantic coast in the southwestern part of Spain, Conil has a population of 19,000 inhabitants but this can double or triple during the summer.

The Costa de la Luz (Coast of light) receives more than 3,200 hours of sunshine a year.  It’s an ideal place to enjoy all year-round with warm winters and hot summers, with the average temperature in December at 17ºC and in July at 28ºC.  

Conil has remained a typical Andalucian town with narrow cobbled streets, tapas bars and open-air markets during the weekends and pavement cafes around the main plazas.  The old town centre of Conil is a small area with plenty of tapas bars and fish restaurants as well as pizzerias. Walking up from the seafront along Avenida. de la Playa you arrive at Plaza Santa Catalina where you will see a variety of places that offer local specialties such as atún encebollado (tuna cooked in onion) and chocos con patatas (cuttlefish with potatoes). Tuna is a delicacy in this area as it is caught fresh in the Atlantic waters off Cadiz.

There is an endless list of local fiestas and ferias (fairs) in the area.  The locals of Conil keep true to the stereotype of the Andalucian people and their celebration loving nature.  During ferias women don their flamenco dresses and you’ll hear the lively clapping and dancing to traditional music.  At carnival and Christmas it’s traditional for the local children of Conil to Parade through the streets in costume!  At Easter there are many religious processions, more sombre in their mood but breath taking to watch.  In summer there are a number of fiestas, including the celebration of the Patron Saint of Fisherman, where a huge flotilla of fishing boats carries a statue of the Virgin Mary out to sea.

The nightlife in Conil is lively in the summer, with most people on the streets rather than inside!  Tapas bars and restaurants stay open until the small hours, whilst the bars and clubs close at around 4am.  You’ll often find live bands or flamenco playing inside a small bar.  There are also a few clubs with dance music for the real party animals!